Odi et Amo
by 1998Ruby1998
Summary: Things were different after the War. Malfoy worked in Auror Office and so did Hermione. While Marriage Law was pushing the two closer and closer, time was running out. And how could one manage a dark wizard and marriage at the same time? (I hate and I love. Why I do this, perhaps you ask? I do not know, but I feel it happening and I am tortured.)
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

DM's POV

The Manor was never the same after war, deafening silence bellowed across the hollow hallway and it was the first time that he realized how dark the place had been. For the past twenty seven years, he enjoyed the gleaming emeralds and alluring darkness that spread across his room. As he heard the chirps at the window, he found his home rather empty. Something was missing, what could it be?

The obvious answer was his parents. Worn out by fear over the past few years, his mother could not living in the same house any longer. At first, she attempted to abandon the undesirable memories, but every object in the household triggered her so badly that she had to move out. The countryside estate in France healed the mental health better than anyone could imagine. Even though he had sent a post asking her to come back, she refused.

His father spent two years in Azkaban, which was already a lot more optimistic than he had expected. Killing countless Muggles and famous for being a Dark Lord's loyal follower were two crimes that could earn him a Dementor's kiss. Apparently, the Wizengamot's forgiveness granted him a second life. Soon after he got out the cell, he moved to the estate without a doubt.

But the young Malfoy was sure this was not what he cared, something else was missing in his life, something that he could not live without.

Finally, he decided that it would be best to leave it until he could figure it out. Work was his top priority, after all. It was indeed a surprise that he could work in the Auror's Department, when Potter was the head Auror. Despite being his rival since Hogwarts, he was quickly forgiven by this Gryffindor. Draco expected harsh requests and treatment from him, it turned out better than he thought. Potter treated him just like any other colleagues and his job was never too burdensome. It was the red haired boy that gave him some troubles for the first few months, soon he accepted Draco and they got along well, for the first time. If he had to complain about Weasley, it would his less intelligent mind and blunt attitude.

Though the wizarding world was restored, Aurors' work had never ended, years ago, their main targets were the Dark Lord and his followers, other dark witches and wizards were considered unimportant and therefore allowed to run wild. Now, the cases were finally treated and Aurors had to work like before again.

The new minister, Shawn Wilkins, succeeded the position last year. Kingsley Shacklebolt wanted something less burdening and thus became a worker at Muggle Liason Office. Draco smirked a little when he heard a news, he was the only Pureblood in the office.

He had his own quaint room at Auror Office, when he was not occupied by any cases, he would lay back and enjoy the carefree morning alone, reading Daily Prophet and drinking coffee. Daily Prophet changed a lot since another person took up Rita Skeeter's position. It was a relief to him as Skeeter nearly put him in headline every day, much like a fanatic stalker. She would report his work so deeply that he almost could not catch any dark wizards. The readers, of course, were intrigued and the Auror Office was often bombarded by fan letters, which made him frustrated and Potter suspected him for leaking information.

An owl tapped on the window glass and Draco opened the window, allowing it to drop down the newspaper on his desk. The headline captured him and he could not help sitting straight.

"Marriage Law Implementation," he read.

Yesterday, the Wizengamot passed the marriage law proposed by the Minister. The Minister explained that replenishment of wizarding population needed to take place as the recent Census showed a drastic decrease in population after the war. All unwed witches and wizards aged between 21 and 45 were required to participate in the scheme and much to Draco's surprise was that, pregnancy had to take place within the first two years of marriage. St. Mungos even invented fertility potions to support the Ministry. An owl would be sent soon to ensure that every eligible witch and wizard had no excuses to be exempted from the law.

"Using children as the binding of marriage," muttered Draco. "Well done, Wilkins, trying to get me love some ladies and consummate the marriage."

An owl flew into the office and dropped a parchment.

"How efficient!" he scoffed and he began reading.

 _Dear Mr. Draco Malfoy,_

 _We are pleased to inform that you are an eligible wizard in the Marriage Scheme under the newly implemented Marriage Law. Please sign below to confirm your knowledge towards our policy and come to Department of Marriage no later than this Thursday._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Lyudmila Amoreva_

 _Head of the Department of Marriage_

"Pleased...sincerely," he scoffed as he signed at the bottom of the parchment and let the owl took it.

A knock rang at the door and one of the Aurors, Quentin Marves came in and said,

"Mr. Potter would like to tell you that we will be have a new colleague and a welcoming party will be held this. afternoon, at three thirty."

"Is it a girl?" asked Draco.

"I know what you're thinking," said Marves and he grinned. "Marriage Law speeds things up, does it not?"

"Shut up, Marves, you can't be this cheeky if Aimee didn't accept your stupid proposal last year."

"Stupid but effective," he replied. "Don't worry, you are Draco Malfoy, who would not want to marry you?"

"Men," joked Malfoy.

"Come on, honestly if I were a girl and still single, I would immediately jump into your embrace."

"Yeah, 'if'," said Draco.

"This is not the Malfoy I know. I know you had quite a number of phrenetic Slytherin girls surrounding you back in those days, you should be able to find one that suits you most."

His mind ran through the Slytherin girls. Parkinson was the first one he could think of, but she would be the very last woman he would marry, her bossy and possessive altitude were not his cup of tea. Davies was too indifferent. Bulstrode was definitely not what he wanted, the only good thing about her was her blood purity. Greengrass sisters were acceptable but they were too similar to his mother, too meek and too reticent, he would someone bright, assertive and independent, someone that could relieve him from boredom and relish him with excitement.

"He didn't mention whether it is a boy or girl, guess you will have to wait until this afternoon," said Marves. "That's all I can say and please be excused."

Marves shut the door and left Draco in contemplation. Perhaps, he should drop by Department of Marriage during lunch hours.

Soon as the clock struck twelve, he rushed out of his office and grabbed a quick lunch before going to Department of Marriage. Much to his satisfaction, no other visitors were there, he did not want to let others know that his relationship status. It was unusual for a Malfoy to be single, with the agreeable appearance and undeniable wealth, it was almost certain that finding a partner would be easier than finding a job.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Malfoy, how can I help you?" asked a brunette female worker.

"Marriage Law," he curtly replied.

The worker took out a form and started filling in information.

"Date of Birth?"

"5 June, 1980."

"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked.

"No."

"Do you have any compatible girlfriend in your mind?"

"No," he replied, feeling awkward.

"If so, we will have to pair you up," she said. "Please answer the questions with honestly since the compatibility will partially based on your answers. Your superior will also give us more information about you."

He nodded.

"What disposition of partners would you want?"

"Someone of high intelligence, around my age, understanding, not pushy, courageous, assertive and a bit adventurous."

"Preferably working in the Ministry?"

"Yes, best if she works in the same department."

"Do you have any hobbies?"

"Er...reading and making potions."

"Do you wish your partner to be of the same house as yours during your education years?"

"Any house is fine."

Any girls would be better than Parkinson and Bulstrode, he thought. Of course, Slytherin would be the ideal choice but the quality...

"Anything else?"

"No."

"We will inform you of the pairing result in six months. We will only do pairing once and if you are not satisfied by the result, you will have to find another partner on your own within a month. Remaining single is not quite an option unless you are willing to pay 40% single tax."

He left the department as soon as possible and hurried back to his office. Soon it was three thirty and he could hear cheers behind the door. Perhaps he should go out and have a look, he thought. The moment he came out of his office, he immediately regretted.

"Everyone, this is our new colleague, Hermione Granger, she will work with us starting on today. I hope everyone can get along well and lend a helping hand if possible."

Granger, what a surprise.

Draco forced a smile on his face and Granger in return, gave him a big smile that almost seemed like a smirk.

"Hermione, you will sit here, next to Melanie," said Potter. "I really wish to have you in my team but my team is currently full. You will be under Malfoy and just ask if you have any questions."

She nodded and Draco could almost sense her despise.

The party ended after two hours and Potter called them to his office. Draco hoped it would not be a lecture telling him to treat her well. After war, he was forced to cast aside his sense of superiority and learn to accept Muggleborns, Purebloods were no longer considered as "aristocracy".

He knocked on the door and got inside with Granger, Weasley was also present. As they took their seats, Potter placed a thick file in front of them. Granger grabbed the file and read,

"Adrian Phelps..."

"Sounds familiar," commented Draco. "One of those Muggle-jinxing wizards, I think."

"He is the personal assistant of the Georgia Prince, Nikoloz Amiran Temur Gruzhinsky, husband of Tania Shafiq."

"Shafiq," exclaimed Draco. "I know them, my father used to tell me about them."

"Sacred Twenty-Eight," pointed out Granger, slightly disgusted by his proud grin. "The only thing that can stimulate your brain."

"Shut up."

"Alright, you two stop talking and listen to me," said Potter and continued as soon as the office returned to silence. "Adrian Phelps, personal assistant of the prince, has claimed innocence and law bidding. However, recent activities show that he travels to different places of Britain at an abnormal frequency."

"Perhaps he has business," said Weasley.

"What business?" asked Granger.

"Dunno, trading perhaps."

"Trading what?"

"How would I know? Probably some private trading between the royal family and buyers or sellers. It's normal that to have tradings!"

"Didn't you read Georgian Seer?" asked Granger, annoyed. "The prince is preparing for coronation ceremony, he would not have time for trade."

"How would I know? I don't read Georgian!"

"It's a weekly English magazine!"

"Just shut up!" said Draco. "You two sound like squawking ravens!"

The office fell into an awkward silence, and Potter said,

"Hermione is right, the Prince is busy for coronation and it is unreasonable that his personal assistant could go out of the country almost twice a week," explained Potter. "We received a post from the personal assistant of Shariq, Tali. She believes that something is wrong with him and wants us to help tracking him down."

"I don't do tracking," said Draco. "Casey is obviously better in this job."

"Actually, I think you will do better," said Potter. "With the help of Hermione."

"With her-"

"-mione, you didn't hear it wrong."

"Come on, she is a newbie, I can't handle a case well while. taking care of a baby?"

"I am not that inexperienced!" yelled Granger. "I work in Wizengamot for a couple of years, for your information. I am very capable of handling different situations."

"I will need someone to come along if that is the case."

"Seriously?" said Ron. "You need a third person to help you out when you already have Hermione?"

"My other three teammates are occupied by David Huggins. I need an extra pair of hand to ensure success!"

"Don't consider borrowing people from our teams, Harry is busy with Cassandra Wallaby and mine is on that crazy old hag who stole thirty Nimbus 2020 and fifty Cleansweep Fifteen last month at Broomstix."

Draco licked his dry lips. Apparently he had no choice but to do this on his own.

"Fine, I will study this case this week."

"Let Hermione share your workload, she needs some warm up," suggested Potter.

A knock rang at the door and Marves came in.

"Wallaby has stolen Madame Primpernelle's beautifying potions again," he said. "For Merlin's sake, she still looks worse than Umbridge even when she has taken a couple of beautifying potions."

"She has already improved her looks," said Weasley. "The first time I saw her, I could not sleep for days."

Melanie came in, panting. Her face had turned paler than Draco's and she appeared almost out of breath.

"Madame Marjorie is attacking our office in five minutes."

The whole office was alarmed and Hermione was puzzled by their faces.

"Ron, give Malfoy the files and call Delia to my office," instructed Potter quickly. "And distribute the muffs too."

Ron levitated a box from the ground and sent it to Draco's office. Granger followed Draco to his. office and sat down. Just as she examine the files, Draco hurriedly cast Silence Charm at the door and use Strengthening Charm on the windows.

"What are you doing?" asked Granger.

"Wear them," orders Draco, throwing a pair of earmuffs to her.

"I don't see why I need them."

"Fine, don't regret."

Draco wore the earmuffs and began reading. Not for long, a screech pierced through the whole office and Granger quickly covered her ears.

"What's that?" she asked. "Banshees?"

"Even worse than Banshees," replied Draco, frowning as the screech penetrated the earmuffs. "I warned you."

She could not stand the screech and opened the door, only finding a large plump lady standing in the middle of the office, singing. But the voice was not enjoyable, the glass of water on the desk was shaking madly and everyone was covering their ears, hiding under the table and cringing. Only Potter and Weasley were standing tough.

"Who's that?" asked Granger.

"Madame Marjorie, one of our clients, a dark wizard broke into her house and stole her bottle of Felix Felicis two years ago. Since then, she came once a while to check on our investigation."

"The thief would have used her potion already!"

"She claimed that the bottle was a gift from her fans."

"Mr. Potter, how is my little song?" asked Madam Marjorie.

"It's nice-"

She began singing again, and Granger could feel her brain splitting into half.

Finally, it came to the last long note and Madame Marjorie left the office, with Potter and Weasley promising that they would try their best to find her bottle.

"Merlin, and I thought the Fat Lady is already my limits," commented Ron.

"I'd rather hear the Fat Lady sing twelve hours straight than her singing one minute," said Potter darkly, picking up the crooked quills on the floor.

* * *

 **Happy Birthday, Malfoy! (If you happen to see this on June 4, it's June 5 for me, come back a few hours later, you are a bit too early for the party.)**

 **Yes, this is a Marriage Law. I know this whole Marriage Law thing is somehow too tiring (that's why I leave my ironic touch there...) I am going to make fun (out) of it.**

 **And I write the chapters from alternate third point of views, this time.**

 **Another notes for other readers who read my last fanfiction, I am terribly sorry, my computer broke down soon as I finished my public exam, I lost everything, and I could not remember much. I have to give up completing it. Let's just leave it open-ended...**

 **I somehow find that I don't leave author notes like what others do. I am not going to leave a note of "I do not own Harry Potter"/"I do not derive profit from writing" or whatever. I agreed the terms of conditions before publications, I am supposed to comply with the rules set by . Plus, I don't live in the US/UK.**

 **Do not kill me for using puns, I can't help it, I am just a puny writer.**

 **This is not my usual writing genre, I rarely indulge myself in comedy works, so if you are unable to find something to laugh at...**

 **Go find some other things to laugh at.**

 **This is an alternate universe, so do not complain that Ron and Hermione are not couples and why Draco is an Auror.**

 **If you have come across some works similar to mine, or you are the owners of those works...**

 **Congratulations, we can be friends.**

 **If you see my work on other platforms (I don't think this will happen), I hope you can trace back to here, at .**

 **Please drop a word if you happen to live in Georgia (not the one in the US, but you can still talk to me if you come from the Georgia in America). გამარჯობა, ამხანაგი!**

 **The usual practice of all writers: Please review, favourite and follow and I will see you all in the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2 Memory Triggered

**Please be noted that slight changes are made in the first chapter.**

 **I have been considering the option of changing T to M, in case I cross the line unknowingly and get complained.**

* * *

HG's POV

The Auror Office was different from what Hermione had always imagined. In the past, they were responsible for catching dark wizards and witches, now they shifted to solving petty thefts and tracking people upon request. Working in Wizengamot was not as exciting as other expected, most members were in their nineties and it was a running joke that Hermione lowered the average age of member and brought the number back to eighties

"Did you see that fat lady storming into the Ministry yesterday?" asked Ginny. "Penelope said she could hardly cover up her frown as the lady's voice echoed in the Atrium."

"Yeah, she was heading to our place." replied Hermione as the two walked along the corridor. "It was a nightmare."

"Harry and Ron were there?"

"Me and Malfoy too," said Hermione and they got into the elevator. "She sang Her voice shattered the whole office and my head was like split into half."

"Sounds like Fat Lady."

"Even worse than Fat Lady."

They got out the lift as it stopped on Level 1. A few boys came out from the rosewood door and eyed on the two girls for a while as they pass by.

"You are attracting way too many boys, Ginny," whispered Hermione and softly chuckled.

"Come on, everyone knows I am with Harry," said Ginny. "They are looking at you."

"You know I am not interested in _those_ kind of boys..."

" _What_ kind of boys?"

They entered the Marriage Office, the department was larger than she expected, files were stacked up against the wall and workers kept running around, trying to sort out documents. A plump brown woman greeted them.

"Marriage Law, dears?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any boyfriends?"

"Ginny has," replied Hermione and looked at Ginny.

The woman asked her other colleague to help out. While Ginny was busy filling in the Relationship Confirmation Form, the woman asked Hermione,

"Do you have any compatible boyfriend in your mind?"

"No."

"What disposition of partner would you want?"

"Someone who upholds sophistication, responsible, courageous, considerate."

"Preferably working in the Ministry?"

"Preferably."

"Around your age?"

"Preferably, but older is also acceptable."

"What's the limit?"

"Er...10 years older."

"Noted. Do you have any hobbies?"

"Reading, and...no, nothing else."

"Do you wish your partner to be of the same house as yours during your education years?"

"Any house is fine."

"Your answers and superior's opinions will be marked in our date base. We will inform you of the pairing result in six months. We will only do pairing once and if you are not satisfied by the result, you will have to find another partner on your own within a month. Remaining single is not quite an option unless you are willing to pay 60% single tax."

60% single tax! She could buy a hundred and fifty wands with that amount the money. This made marriage even more necessary if she wanted to keep her Galleons. She somehow got jealous of Ginny and Harry, who knew they could marry their truly loved ones. She knew Ron visited the department just this morning, his face was red like a plum when he came back to the office and Melanie said that he did not speak a word since he came back. Hermione wondered what he wrote in the Form, she knew he had been trying to date her but she had little interest in him. Tolerating ignorance and impulse was not her strength and Ron often complained about her beating around the bush when the answer was obviously revealed in front of his very eyes.

Her mind turned to other possibilities, all the Weasley boys were married except for Ron, and certainly other Gryffindors would not be compatible with her, considering that she made a remark of reading as her hobby. So most likely, she would get married to a Ravenclaw. Terry Boot married Mandy Brocklehurst and Anthony Goldstein married Lisa Turpin. Michael Corner was single but she had no interest in him. She did not know any older Ravenclaws and a flaw often existed in Ravenclaws-too workaholic. Though she had to admit that she was one too, but she did not want her husband to be the same. Usually such couples would not divorce but stayed in indifference, like old couples who stayed in the same house for more than forty years.

"Scared?" asked Ginny as they got out of the office.

"Scared what?" asked Hermione.

"Marrying someone that you don't like."

"Well you can reject the offer."

"Do you really think it's possible to get a great husband within a month when all other good ones are married already?"

"I know, I know," said Hermione. "It's a struggle between paying 60% single tax or get married to someone you will never love for the rest of your life and somehow get a child."

"Ironic how Department of Marriage is on the same level as Department of Taxation."

"Reminding you that either you give up your salary or give up your love life."

"I'd pay 60% single tax then."

"But with that amount of money, I can buy a lot more books!"

"Surrendering yourself to any man because of books," said Ginny and sighed as they waited for the list. "Really?"

"The law doesn't say that love is required in the marriage," explained Hermione. "It just says you must have a child within the first two years of marriage. And you can divorce papers after that. It doesn't say you need to stay with the same man for the rest of your life."

"What a law-gical mind you have there," gasped Ginny as the lift arrived.

Hermione wore a triumphant grin on her face but soon it wore off as they stepped into the lift.

"Hi, ladies," greeted Malfoy, with a smirk on his face.

"It's a surprise to see you here, Mr. Malfoy" said Hermione.

"Enjoying yourself much in _that_ department?"

"We sincerely hope that you would find a Muggle-born to help tainting the bloodline," snapped Ginny, reminding him of his usual self in the past.

"Come now, Miss Weasley, mocking my past is just as ignorant as believing that your brother can find his perfect match."

Pink tinges appeared on Ginny's face, she wanted to argue but Hermione pulled her back. As the lift reached level 2, Hermione and Malfoy got out after she bid farewell to Ginny.

"What do you have to agitate Ginny?"

"If I don't find myself some fun, then I am not a Malfoy."

"Whatever," said Hermione, rolling her eyes as they got into Malfoy's office.

Without hesitation, they started researching for the case. Adrian Phelps was sorted in Ravenclaws thirty years ago and he was Third Class of Order of Merlin. Something strange about him was that he was extraordinarily handsome, as if he was part-Veela.

"He is indeed good-looking," said Malfoy. "Must be your type."

"I don't like someone just because they're handsome, get that?" said Hermione. "But he is more than good-looking."

"Humph, not even half of me."

"Yet you are not even half of Harry."

This struck Draco badly, she could tell from his stern stare.

"Do not compare me with Potter," gritted Malfoy through his teeth, slowly annunciating every word.

"I should have known that comparing you with Harry would weaken your fragile male ego."

His hand gripped her head and growled,

"Do not compare me with Potter, is that clear?"

She brushed off his hand and sighed. A male's ego could be so frail that a word or two could shatter it.

"Perhaps I should contact Tania later this evening," said Draco as he went through the files.

"Am I supposed to know your purpose of contacting her?" asked Hermione. "If so, I have no interest in knowing unless you require my presence-"

"I want you to be there, with me."

Hermione dropped her file.

"With you?"

"Not fine for you?" asked Malfoy.

"Strange that you would want me to accompany you."

"Well if Potter grants me the permission to _use_ you-"

"USE ME?!"

"Use you as my personal assistant," said Malfoy. "Seriously, can't you just wait until I finish my sentence?"

"Even when you are mid-way through your sentence, I can already make a fair guess on what you are going to say."

Malfoy rubbed his forehead and continued reading the files.

"The Prince will be holding parties at his palace a few months later."

"Are you telling me that you want to find your true love at the party then?"

"No, I am not," said Hermione. "We should go and see whether we wrong a man."

"Wrong Phelps?" scoffed Malfoy. "So your hypothesis is that he is innocent."

"Innocent proven until guilty," replied Hermione, slightly annoyed by him. "Haven't you learnt that for the past few years?"

Malfoy sniffed and returned to his documents. Hermione perfectly knew that apart from the Princess, he knew nothing about Georgia, and to put it bluntly, he should be grateful to have an assistant who knew more than he did.

Phelps, this name triggered a distant memory. The first time she heard it, she only considered it as a common surname. But the face triggered her memory further. She had seen him somewhere, but where? She was sure it was never Hogwarts, he was eight years older than her, by the time she turned eleven, he had already graduated.

A knock rang on the door and Ron came in, looking worn out.

"Are you two going to stay overnight?" he asked. "Aren't you hungry at all?"

The clock struck nine, reminding them how time had passed. Hermione did not realize that she and Malfoy had been in the office since afternoon. Her stomach growled and echoed in the office. Malfoy sniggered and a broad grin spread across his face.

"Do you need a sandwich or what?" asked Ron, concerned. "I can buy you something at the Leaky Cauldron. You must eat something."

"Oh, Weasley, trying to get Granger using a sandwich?" sneered Malfoy. "I would at least buy her a hearty meal, even when it's Lady Marjorie."

Ron's face turned redder and redder as Malfoy's smirk grew wider and wider. The awkward silence was so uncomfortable that Hermione had to speak.

"Fine. You two leave, I will tidy up the office."

Ron left the office. Malfoy tucked his files back to the drawers and put on his coat. As Hermione stood up and cleaned the table, he whispered to her ear.

"Just don't open my drawers," he muttered in a barely audible voice, and his hot breath made her ears turned red. "You may find something that you won't want to see."

She dazed with confusion while blushes spread across her cheeks. Malfoy laughed and closed the office door, leaving her alone in the office. Finally, she could have a night of silence. She packed away the files and sat down, listening to tranquility of the office.

Adrian Phelps, where had she heard the name? The face reminded her of someone she knew across the street in her childhood but she immediately the idea, that boy was a Muggle, he studied in the prestigious Trent College, her memory about this was strong. But he could lie, could he not?

"Missing me, Granger?" said a voice and Hermione immediately sat up.

"It seemed that you are a qualified cleaner," said Malfoy, smirking. "and a qualified night-dreamer too."

"Shut up!" said Hermione. "I thought you were going home."

"Just to see how long would it take you to clean up, looks like I am over-worrying."

Hermione stood up, took her bag and left the office as soon as possible. As she got into the lift, she heard a voice from behind.

"Hey, hey, hey, wait!" said Malfoy, catching up and was relieved when he squeezed into the lift.

She was annoyed, still she hid it well.

"Oh, nearly forget to tell you," said Malfoy. "I called Tania and she said we could go to their party next month."

She stared at him.

"Are you telling me that you want me to accompany you?" she asked.

"You should be thankful, considering that your partner will be the most handsome there."

She rolled her eyes.


	3. Chapter 3 Announcement

**Truly hate myself for writing less and less in each chapter, perhaps the next chapter would be more exciting.**

 **Another thing, I must thank the seven followers for taking interest in my story.**

* * *

DM's POV

Somethmes Draco could not help but thinking of his life, any time in this month, the Department of Marriage would announce who would be the next Lady Malfoy. After all, Malfoy was a _prestigious_ family, even more prestigious after war, since the Daily Prophet stated that the family repented and even joined the Auror Office to prove their betrayal to Dark Magic.

He could see Granger getting more and more anxious. At first, she would daze for a while, eyes fixed on the papers in her hands. Now the anxiety level shot up, she constantly and easily got frightened of little things, a small knock of the door, a light pat on the shoulder or a sneeze could send her brain to another universe. Draco laughed every time she jumped, rarely had he seen her shocked so much and almost scared to death.

He could not blame her as he was also facing the unknown. It was almost certain that he would marry a Slytherin girl, since his description of his imaginary partner matched well with Slytherins. The imagination of having Parkinson or Bulstrode as wife made him shudder. He could not imagine himself saying "Pansy" or "Milly", it was more than enough to make him puke. Not many young and unwed girls worked in Level 2, he did not have much choice. It made him wonder if those Slytherin girls marked him as their desired boyfriend, though a small part of his mind said that he was thinking too much of himself.

On the other hand, he wanted to know who would be Granger's man. He did not reckon it would be Weasley, though he knew this red haired man was secretly in love with her. It seemed to be a waste for her to stay with such a man, she needed someone of similar intellect and had no tolerance in ignorance. The only person he could think of with such quality was himself but he immediately wiped this out of his mind, he would never marry her, despite of the fact that she was a better wife than Parkinson and Bulstrode.

Potter received the news from the Department yesterday, as expected he was matched with Ginny. It was no surprise, they were engaged before the implementation, the Department could not possibly separate them. What's more the Daily Prophet would be even happier if they had the chance of writing about this pair of star-crossed lovers which was separated because of a "merciless" law. Definitely the marriage of the Golden Trio would be headlines for days.

Potter had permitted them to attend the party, and as if he was in a good mood due to his marriage, he agreed to let Marcus Turner and Cassandra Morgan help out in the case. Turner and Morgan were more than grateful to have the chance to travel aboard and not dealing with petty thefts, they had longed for this opportunity to indulge themselves in business and romance. Draco was not entertained much by their silly giggles, romance did not match well with Granger, especially when she was not his wife. And his intuition told him that he and Granger would need to act like couples in Georgia.

A knock rang at the door and Potter came in.

"It's time," he said.

"Time for what?" asked Granger, alerted.

"Department of Marriage," mumbled a voice.

Weasley was behind Potter, looking pale. Draco guessed he had the same time slot with Weasley.

Draco raised his brow and went out with Granger. It was strange, walking beside Granger and Weasley was something that he rarely imagined. It was always the golden trio, never him.

By the time they reached Department of Marriage, a girly voice rang behind and sent everyone a chill down the spine.

"Dracky!"

Draco tried to ignore the voice but failed. The quick echoes of steps came nearer and nearer, claws crept onto his shoulder and the voice whispered,

"Dracky, I miss you."

Immediately, he shoved the hand off.

"Get lost Parkinson," he growled.

He could see Granger smirking and Weasley trying hard to cover up his happiness. This made him madder, being a laughing stock in front of the two was one of the worst things he could imagine, and the humiliation of Parkinson suffocated him. Soon as he got rid of Parkinson's grip, he quickly entered the office, the three followed behind.

"Good afternoon, please join Mr. Rivers and Miss Jenkins over there, our staff will ask you to sign the marriage documents later."

Draco gulped, Parkinson, Granger amd Jenkins, it seemed that Jenkins would be the less horrible out of the three, the only question is that she might not like him. But if it was Granger, it was still better than Parkinson.

A man in mid sixties came towards them. The black tuxedo and thick glasses fitted him, he looked almost like a butler his family used to have at the Manor but he resigned years ago. Behind this man in tuxedo

"Greetings, my fellow workers of the Ministry," he said with an impeccable British acent after clearing his throat. "It is my honour to announce the identity of your partners. Before the announcement, I would like to inform you all certain information."

Draco gulped.

"Upon marriage, you will have a 20% tax refund, for the coming taxation year, you will follow our latest tax rate scheme, which will be automatically deducted from your vaults. Also, please bear in mind that consummation must take place in the first two years of marriage and a child must be conceived so as to increase our wizarding population. Because of this, partners must live in the same household. Tax would be waived if you are able to conceive two children within two years. If you are facing any difficulty in conceiving a child after two years, please contact St. Mungos. If your pregnancy can be affected by your occupation, your workplace can provide you a child-bearing permit. Any violence of rules discovered by our scouting owls would result in Ministry's interventions, including imprisonment in our tailor-made household units and a month days off."

Draco sniggered, so replenishment of population outweighs work.

"Now I will announce the identity of your partners," said the man. "Mr. David Rivers and Miss Delancy Jenkins."

The two nodded each other shyly and joined their hands.

"Mr. Draco Malfoy and Miss Hermione Granger, finally Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Pansy Parkinson."

The four gasped. What was the Ministry thinking.

"Sir, perhaps I heard you wrong," said Ron slowly. "I thought you said me and Miss Parkinson, and Mr. Malfoy with Hermione."

"No you did not hear me wrong," answered the man. "You and Miss Pansy Parkinson. It is written here black and white."

Draco sniggered, Weasley and Parkinson, a perfectly drama. But him with Granger...

Oh well, it was already the best he could have, he should not complain.

"Sir, in what way are we compatible?" asked Granger, shocked to hear the news.

"According to your application form," explained the man, shifting his glasses. "You mentioned 'Someone who upholds sophistication, responsible, courageous, considerate' and 'preferably working in the Ministry' and it appears that Mr. Malfoy falls under your category. Even from the description of your superior, Mr. Harry Potter, both of you have similar disposition."

Draco showed a small grin, he did not know if he should curse Potter or thank him.

"But what about me and him?" asked Parkinson, wailing. "I did not say I like someone who is red-haired and dumb."

Draco could hardly hide his happiness, surely she made an accurate description of Weasley.

"According to your application form," said the man, slightly annoyed by her. "You specifically mentioned your partner must have same blood status and unswerving, and it seemed that Mr. Weasley has such qualities, described by his superior."

Parkinson pursed her lips and turned to Draco.

"Dracky!" she wailed. "Save me, please. That mu-"

"That Muggleborn is Miss Hermione Granger, my fianceé," announced Draco.

"Dracky!"

Draco ignored her and looked at Granger. He could see the confusion in her's eyes, and before she could protest, he said,

"Please give us the papers."

The staff quickly gave him and Granger the papers, without a doubt he signed on every single page. Once he had finished, he shoved the quill into her palm, urging her to sign, leaving her without a moment of hesitation.

"Thank you, Miss Granger," said the man as she finished signing on the last page. "It's my honour to hereby announce your new identity, Ms. Hermione Malfoy. Congratulations."

Jenkins and Rivers clapped in politeness, then signed their papers. With four pairs of eyes staring at Weasley and Parkinson, they had no choice but to pick up the quills.

Draco clutched Granger's hand and ran along the corridor. As they entered the lift, Granger regained her sense and asked,

"I should not have signed the papers."

Draco eyed on her, then said,

"So you want to marry Weasley... Too bad it's too late."

As the lift door opened, Draco got out but she remained unmoved, staring at him.

"Perhaps I should go back," she said. "And decline the offer."

Before she could press any buttons, Draco pulled her out of the lift and did not let go until they got back to his office. He cast the silence charm while she took her seat at the couch.

"You know that Weasley is drooling every time he sees you?" he asked.

"So?" asked Granger. "Pansy is also drooling at you. She clearly loves you more than I do-"

"Well, I don't love her, get it?"

"No! You marry me because you don't want her!" explained Granger. "You don't love her does not mean you love me! It's different!"

"Does that mean you like Weasley?"

"No, but-"

"What?" he yelled. "Not everyone volunteers to be in this scheme, you don't, I don't."

Silence fell, Draco's face had turned flaming red and his eyes fixed on her. To be honest, she was agreeable, at least she was a dozen times better than Parkinson.

He tried to break the silence by switching topics, but currently he was unable to find anything that could bring the two together, so he decided to remain silent until Potter came in with a small knock. Potter seemed to have known what exactly had happened, he began,

"I know nobody wants this but that is the law and we have to uphold. The only thing we can do is that find the bits you hate less under this law."

Nobody made a sound, so he continued,

"If you two are unable to...get along without trouble, I can write a request letter of er...consummation postponement for you-"

"There is no need," said Draco, interrupting Potter. "I believe we can handle it."

Seeing that Draco did not need his help, Potter shrugged and before leaving, he said,

"The Tbilisi Ministry has issued their Auror permits and requests your earliest arrival."

He left, as his footsteps grew fainter, Draco sat back on his chair, staring at his new "wife". Granger was covering her face with her hands, as if hiding her anger and pain. Perhaps he should do as Potter said, 'find the bits you hate less under this law'. What's more, he had to find a way to get her conceive his child, which was even harder than asking her to despise him less.


	4. Chapter 4 Welcome to Georgia

HG's POV

20 months later (Credits to Chrismazing, for reminding me that I should have clarify the skipping of time clearer.)

Since that day they signed the marriage papers, Hermione was forced to stay at Malfoy Manor and abandoned her quaint apartment. The only thing that could lighten her heart was the manor, this was the first time she could examine it without worrying. The skirmish was too burdensome at that time, she only focused on the possible escape routes and the approximate location of each room. Now she was allowed to roam freely and appreciate the architecture.

The living room used to be Death Eater headquarters. Malfoy said his parents were not comfortable with the situation but his aunt Bellatrix Lestrange, who was also a resident at the manor, considered it as an honour. It was a huge sanctification when she heard Mrs. Weasley struck a fatal curse at the lunatic witch but Ginny told her that Lestrange's Killing Curse missed, which was rare since she practiced cursing more than normal witches or wizards. Hermione could only assume that Lestrange had a little soft spot on Purebloods, other than that she could not come up with any appropriate reasons.

She and Malfoy decided that they should have separate bedrooms until they were fully comfortable with each other's presence and she perfectly knew that would never be possible. Getting along with him was not the problem, the problem was whether they could share the same bed.

The bedroom was almost the size of her apartment. It was not that she could not afford buying a larger apartment, she just wanted enough space and not to waste so much time on cleaning. Crookshanks' fur had been quite a problem. To her dismay and relief, Malfoy still owned two house elves, Push and Pull. She tried to persuade Malfoy to free them but only came to a compromise of treating them with politeness. She knew it was already the limit of Malfoy, so she had to agree, she heard him mumbled "Who's going to clean the manor if the elves won't do it?"

She discovered her luggage was much lighter than Malfoy's. She thought girls usually had heavier luggage since they would brings cosmetics and different dresses for different occasions. She did not like bringing so many things to travel, she was never much of a lady who would care their appearance, clothes were as simple as possible. When Malfoy showed her his luggage, she could not believe what she saw.

"Six pairs of shoes? Is that really necessary?"

"One pair of trainers and casual shoes, two for special occasions, one slippers and one spare," answered Malfoy as though it was normal.

"And here I thought Malfoys would rather buy than carrying heavy luggage."

"Push and Pull will take luggage to our hotel and take care of our clothes," explained Malfoy. "I don't spend unless it is necessary. It has always been our tradition. Luckily, you aren't a big spender."

Hermione rolled her eyes and recite the schedule.

"At half past two, we will meet up with Marcus and Cassandra. At three o'clock sharp, we will take the Portkey to Tbilisi, the Auror Office there will welcome us and explain the situation. After that, we will go back to the hotel and end our day. We will only stay in Georgia for a month unless further action needs to take place."

"Guess we will consider this as our honeymoon journey," said Malfoy, smirking.

"What a _great_ honeymoon trip," said Hermione.

The clock struck twelve and the two hurried down for lunch. Push and Pull were just as professional as the Hogwarts elves, the whole dining table was packed with dishes of different delicacies and Hermione did not know what to say.

"Welcome, Master and Madam," said Push and Pull, bowing with their nose almost touching the floor.

"I don't know what you like to eat, so I tell them to cook various cuisines. See which one you like."

"It's not like I am a big eater!" exclaimed Hermione. "It's a waste of food and a waste of Push and Pull's effort in preparing food."

The moment as the house elves heard her comment, they immediately knelt and wailed,

"No! Madam Malfoy is angry at us. Bad Push! Bad Pull!"

Push began hitting his head with a bowl and Pull bang his head against the chair, which made Hermione petrified.

"No! I do not mean that-"

"See, Granger? You hurt their feelings," said Malfoy, smirking. "So eat without complaint."

Hermione looked at two house elves who had kept punishing themselves, then Malfoy's grin, she yelled,

"Stop!"

Push and Pull stopped and gazed upon her with their large round eyes. Hermione raised her fork and got some pasta from the nearest plate, she had to admit, it was delicious, just as great as tge food at Hogwarts.

"How is it?" asked Malfoy. "Remember, don't hurt their feelings."

"The pasta is great," she replied and turned to the house elves. "Thank you."

"Madam does not speak to Push and Pull like that," said Push with a slight hint of fury. "It is Push and Pull's duty to provide the best service to young Master and Madam."

Hermione frowned, she never expected house elves would not take the gratitude.

"The steak can be less salty," said Malfoy as he swallowed a dice of steak. "And don't overcook it."

Smiles appeared on Push and Pull's faces and they bowed deeply, then answered,

"Yes, Master."

Hermione could not believe what she had just heard, Malfoy had trained them to be masochists, she could hardly imagine what were the lives of the house elves be before her arrival. but she made not complaint. After she finished half plate of pasta, she was already full and she carefully asked Push and Pull to make less dishes. Malfoy asked them to get their luggage soon as they finished clearing the dining table.

She went back to the Ministry with Malfoy at half past two straight and they hurried to the Portkey Office. Turner and Morgan were already there, chatting with laughter.

"Hi Hermione," said Morgan. "Turner says Tbilisi is a wonderful city, I hope we have time to walk around."

"Don't forget that we are going to Georgia for catching dark wizards," reminded Malfoy.

Hermione immediately said,

"Not really catching anyone, we will just investigate and arrest if only it is necessary."

"Sounds like you know Phelps well," said Turner.

"I just want to say, innocent until proven guilty."

The Portkey Office staff took them to a room, a boot was placed in the middle.

"Good luck," said the worker.

The four clutched a part of the boot and the room flashed. They were no longer in the room, instead they were standing at a bright room full of people.

"Welcome to Georgia," said the crowd.

A man with tall nose and thick eyebrows reached out his hand to Malfoy's. After an earnest handshake, the man began,

"I am Nikolai Tsaridze, Minister of Georgia. You must be Mr Malfoy."

"Call me Draco, please," says Malfoy, smiling.

Hermione sniffed a little, apparently not used to his friendliness. Malfoy immediately wrapped his arm around her waist and said,

"This is my lovely wife, Hermione Malfoy. She will also help out in the case."

He could feel her protest and wriggle but he stiffened his arm, making her unable to struggle.

"What a beautiful wife, სილამაზის (beautiful one)!"

"This is Marcus and Cassandra, my assistants," said Malfoy. "Perhaps we should discuss the details in your office?"

"Oh yes, please follow me," said Tsaridze and they walked out of the room with the other Georgian workers.

They went into a roomy office and Tsaridze invited them to take their seats at the couch. A lady in burgundy dress came, followed by a tall lady in grey suit dress who was holding a bunch of files. She shifted her spectacles and said,

"Mr. Tsaridze, your files."

"Thank you, Anya."

The lady in burgundy dress tripped herself and fell with a scream. Hermione closed her eyes, preparing for hot splashes, but nothing happened, all she could feel was a large shadow covering her. The moment as she opened her eyes, Malfoy was covering her, his eyes fixed on her. She could almost feel his breath.

"Calm down, Mr. Malfoy," chuckled Tsaridze. "I have everything under control."

Out of instinct, Hermione pushed Malfoy aside. The teacups and droplets were hovering in the air, as Tsaridze snapped his fingertips, the droplets fell back into the cups and they swiftly glided into everyone's hand. Turner and Morgan were still eyeing on Hermione and Malfoy, obviously still thinking about the awkward behaviour of Malfoy a few seconds ago.

"Chacha, vine vodka," said Tsaridze.

The lady in burgundy dress got back onto her feet and immediately apologized,

"I am so sorry, please forgive me."

"Дурака! Эти английские офицеры, не простолюдины, ты с ума? (Fool! These are English officers, not commoners, are you out of your mind?)" snapped Anya.

The lady's face immediately turned pale and she bowed for a couple of times.

"Убирайся! (Get out!)" said Anya, crossed.

The two ladies went out of the room and closed the door. Hermione gulped, but she made no complaint. Despite of the great sweet taste of the vine vodka, what happened just now made her unable to enjoy the beverage fully. Tsaridze immediately listed out their plans and possible risks, Hermione had to admit that everything was well-planned, almost flawless. Not for long, the meeting ended and Tsaridze led them to the lift.

"Our entrance is linked to the storage room of Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre. Once got out of the theatre, turn right and right again as you come to the corner, 5 minutes walk and you will reach your hotel."

"Thank you," said Malfoy. "We will contact the Ministry whenever we need to."

They got into the lift and got out into a room full of ballet tutus and different costumes.

"Too much pink," commented Malfoy. "Decreasing my masculinity."

Hermione rolled her eyes, then said,

"Yeah, all Malfoy's male ego is more fragile than glass."

Malfoy immediately wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered into her ear,

"Try saying that again and you will regret it."

They went out of the storage room and walked pass crowds of ballerinas. Malfoy continued his whisper,

"A kiss in the public is what you want, is it not? Too bad we can't cast the Memory Charm here."

Hermione's ears turned scarlet and spread across her chin, she could hear Turner and Morgan sniggering. Fortunately the walk was not long and they arrived at the hotel's reception area.

"Room 1004 for Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy and Room 1005 for Mr. M. Turner and Ms. C. Morgan."

"Room 1004 for the two of us?" asked Hermione with disbelief, eyeing on the receptionist.

"Yes," answered the receptionist and she placed on the key cards on the counter. "Room 1004 is reserved for Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy."

Must she really share a room with him? She was sure that the Ministry had enough money to reserve another room.

"Free high speed, wireless Wifi is available in your room," said the receptionist. "The password is Iveria08ab."

"What is Wi-" began Malfoy.

"Thank you," interrupted Hermione immediately and snatched the key card.

Leaving the reception area, they headed to the lift.

"This hotel is magnificent," gasped Morgan. "I heard you can have avocado, tuna and mozzarella deep fried in tempura butter mix."

"We will try that tonight," said Turner as they got into the lift. "But first, we will have a walk along the Mtkvari river. You two come with us perhaps?"

"No," said Hermione without hesitance.

"You two enjoy yourself. Me and Hermione will be have _a small talk_ ," said Malfoy, annunciating the last three words slowly, sending a chill down to Hermione's spine.

"Ooo, small talk," said Morgan and she winked at Turner and he chuckled.

The lift stopped at tenth floor and they got out.

"See you at seven in the restaurant!" said Turner and they hurried into their hotel room.

Hermione swiped the key card at the door and went in. The room was just a little smaller than Hermione's old home, but everything seemed so spacious.

"Sounds like the Ministry Marriage Law still applies here," said Malfoy and lay down on bed. Hermione immediately shoved him off, he fell onto the floor.

"Auch! Can't you be a little bit less violent?"

As he got up, he saw Hermione placing a pillow in the middle.

"Central line here," said Hermione. "Don't cross it."

Malfoy placed his arm across the pillow.

"I cross it, what are you going to do?"

Hermione tried to lift his arm.

"Stop it!"

Malfoy's arm would not move, then his other arm grabbed Hermione's wrists. She wriggled and the moment her wrists broke free from his grip, she grabbed the pillow and slammed it against Malfoy. Malfoy took the pillow and threw it across the room and his fingers tickled her neck. She let out a squeal, twisted and turned, trying to get away. A snap cracked near the television and Hermione stopped moving.

"Push and Pull didn't see anything!" said the house elves and they immediately hid behind the luggage they just brought with them, with their ears obviously poking out, quivering.

Hermione looked at Malfoy and realized he had pinned her on the bed, locked between his arms. Malfoy sat up and cleared his throat,

"You may go."

Instantly, a crack rang and the two houses elves disappeared. Hermione sat up, breathing heavily as she stared at Malfoy. Pink tinges were on his cheeks and she could feel the room getting hotter and hotter.

"I'm taking a bath," announced Hermione after the awkward moment of silence, taking her clothes out of the luggage and dived into the bathroom, slamming the door.

Malfoy's voice rang behind the door.

"Just reminding you, though we are not really much of a couple, we must act like one, understand? We-"

Hermione turned on the shower to full power, covering his voice completely.

* * *

 **Guess nobody would have time to look up the map and see which hotel I am talking about...Actually, I gave it out already in the chapter.**

 **It was a real surprise to see the number of followers increased to tenth digit within a couple of hours.**

 **666 views currently...**

 **I really want to publish more chapters as soon as possible before mid-July, since I might have to study in UK and I won't be able to continue this story until October.**


	5. Chapter 5 Encounter at Boutique

DM's POV

For the following week, Draco had to share the same bed with Granger. The bed was huge enough to accommodate the two of them but it was awkward to lie down beside Granger. She could have suffocated him while he was fast asleep in the middle of the night. She was both an early bird and night owl, requiring very little sleep and could stay awake for two days without a nap. A little crack or the faint footsteps at the corridor could wake her up and made her unable to fall asleep again, since he could feel the different weight distribution soon as a tiny sound rang, she kept shifting her body and he could hardly suppress the urge to make her stop wriggling.

The Prince's party would be held in five days and strangely, he noticed Granger being nervous.

"Don't tell me you are actually afraid of parties and balls," said Draco. "You were that Krum's ball partner years ago."

"I am not afraid!" yelled Granger. "It's just, I am thinking of Adrian Phelps."

"Don't tell me you fall in love with him at first sight, I am not buying such tales."

"I am not falling in love with anybody! You get that? I am just thinking of him, just!"

"So what exactly are you thinking about then, Mrs. Hermione Malfoy née Granger?"

Granger rolled her eyes and began,

"He looks like a neighbour in my childhood."

Draco sat up straight.

"Neighbour?"

"I remember a boy that looks likes him living across the street."

"What kind of tale is that? Knowing each other since childhood but parted for a couple of years, then reunite when they grow up?"

"If you don't believe me, it is completely fine!" said Granger. "And one more thing, I need to get a more decent dress."

"I thought you are going to bring your old periwinkle blue dress."

"Come on, I was 15 at that time! I have grown!"

"Yeah, definitely," said Draco, smirking as his eyes slowly scanned from her neck to her chest, and her face immediately turned crimson.

"You pervert!"

Draco's laughter rang in the room.

"After thinking for the whole night, I think the dress in my luggage is just not good enough for a party like that."

"Yeah, definitely."

"I'm going out," said Granger, grabbing the key card and her wallet.

As she opened the door, Draco immediately pressed his hand against the door and closed it.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey," he said. "Calm down."

"No!"

"Calm down!"

"No, I am calm, I just need to get out and buy myself a decent dress. I am pretty sure that you do not want to accompany ladies to shopping."

"Well, I don't want you to get kidnap by any perverts around the corner."

"Do I look like I am going to get kidnapped in any second?"

"Yeah," replied Draco.

Granger rolled her eyes.

"Fine," announced Granger. "You can come with me."

Draco grinned and they went out of the room. They headed to the restaurant and chose a table at the corner, hoping that their conversation would not arouse Muggles' suspicion.

"Hi, Hermione," said a female voice.

Turner walked towards them, with Morgan in his arm.

"I see you two obviously enjoying your trip," said Draco.

"You can also do that, you know," said Turner.

"You boys enjoy your chat," said Granger, getting up from the chair. "Me and Cassandra are going to get some goodies."

The two girls hurried off to the buffet table and grabbed their plates.

"Finally, men talk," said Draco.

"Come on, let's get something," said Turner and they walked to the buffet table, examining the pancakes.

"Seems that you two are more than just getting along," said Draco. "The Marriage Law won't have much effects than."

"Better get someone before we turn 21," he explained, placing the hot cakes on his plate. "Want some?"

Draco nodded and Turner placed a few slice of pancakes on his plate, then poured a spoonful of golden syrup on the steamy flat cakes.

"If only she's that pleasant," mumbled Draco.

"She's not that bad, is she?"

"What would you do if your wife is your enemy while at Hogwarts?"

"Hate is a just passion that is of equal interest to love," explained Turner. "Both are irrational passions that can lead to extreme behaviour."

"The problem is I can't have her stay still and make babies!"

"Oh that's a real pain," said Turner and he chuckled badly.

They went back to their seats, Turner began,

"Mind you, you have to do it anyway."

"I know, I guess we will just wait until last minute."

"Perhaps alcohol could do some help-"

"Don't even think about it. I am certain that she will hate me even more."

"Actually, I don't think she hates you as much as you describe."

"You know women can be very pretentious."

Turner shrugged, cutting his pancakes.

"Markie, I get you an orange juice," said Morgan as she came back with a heap of salad on her plates.

"Thanks, darling," replied Turner cheerfully and gave a kiss on his girlfriend's rosy cheek.

Sickly in love, thought Draco.

Granger sat down and her fork dived into the pile of lettuce. He tried to picture the scene of kissing her on the cheek, but failed. It would only earn him a slap, or a punch in the face. So far, she was the only girl who had the nerve to punch him, not even his mother dared to cross him.

"Hermione, have you prepared your dress for the party yet?" asked Morgan.

"I am going to get one later this afternoon," answered Granger. "With a nosy security guard accompanying me."

"Nice title there, Malfoy," commented Turner, laughing.

"Can you shut up and eat your pancakes in peace?" said Draco, annoyed.

"Oooh, scary," said Turner and quickly wolfed down his cakes as he met Draco's eyes.

"Do you need my help?" offered Morgan. "You know men do not have sharp sense in fashion."

"It's okay, you two enjoy your day."

Morgan showed a small grin and she ate the fresh chicken pieces.

After breakfast, Draco and Granger went out of the hotel and began their search in the area. Despite not knowing how on earth she managed to communicate with the local salespeople, he decided not to ask, asking would only earn him a scorn.

He had to admit, she had a sharp taste for fashion, she could match colours and style without thinking, earning much admiration from the salespeople. To be honest, all gowns looked good on her, if he had to complain, tight black evening gowns made her look too seductive and pure white dress made her too innocent.

Three hours passed and without lunch, they had almost visited every boutique in the area. Finally they arrived at the entrance of an old-fashioned boutique.

"Здравствуйте!" said Granger as they entered the shop.

"Whatever it is, doesn't sound Georgian," mumbled Draco.

Granger let out a sigh.

"Obviously you don't even have basic knowledge to world history," she said. "Georgia was part of Soviet Union and this is why most Georgians can sepak Russian."

"I study history of the wizarding world, not Muggle world!"

"Yet you are in a Muggle boutique."

An old man came out from the storage room and quickly, Granger recited her lengthy speech. The old man hurriedly gave her a few blue and pink dress for her and she went into the fitting room. Having nothing to do, he decided to sat down and read some fashion magazines. Since not knowing a word of Georgian, he quickly flipped throught the pages. He was glad that the magazines were thick enough to idle his time, by the time he finished, Granger came out of the fitting room in a dark blue gown.

"Wonderful!" exclaimed a voice.

The voice revealed himself to be a man in his mid-thirties, his charming blue eyes were glistening and his golden brown hair shone under the light. He was Adrian Phelps.

Granger almost let out a gasp, but immediately she covered it with a smile.

"It looks good on you," he commented. "It would look perfect if you have gloves...Джапаридзе, у вас есть мягкие синие перчатки (Japaridze, do you have soft blue gloves) ?"

The man took out a box from the shelf and gave it to Granger. Even though Draco was not wearing them, he could feel the smooth feathered-like texture.

"Thank you," said Granger.

"You're welcome," said Phelps, grinning.

Before leaving the shop, Granger and Phelps talked for quite a while at the entrance and Draco cleared his throat loud enough to make Granger remember his existence. After bidding farewell with Phelps, Granger hurried back to Draco.

"Can't you just be a little bit more patient?"

"Yeah, I have been patient, three hours straight without lunch."

"I remember someone volunteers to accompany me."

"Yes, and look who we have met today!" exclaimed Draco. "Did you tell him your name?"

"I told him my name's Emma Watson and your name is Tom Felton."

"Seriously, same name with the Dark Lord?"

"You should be honoured to have the opportunity of using his name."

"You give yourself a cool name whereas I get a stupid name?"

"Take it or leave it, but you don't have a choice, I didn't have contacts of Georgian undertakers."

"Fine!" growled Draco.

* * *

 **I was so tempted to write this in Hermione's POV, it would be a lot more interesting, or should I write a spin-off from her POV?**

 **And I nearly broke my phone twice while typing this, first time for refreshing cache before saving, second time f** **or learnt my lesson, device offline before saving. I typed the 60% of chapter thrice for three hours...from 12am to 3am.**


	6. Chapter 5 Spin Off

**Even though I asked, I still wrote it no matter yes or no.**

* * *

HG' POV

It took her nights to accept the fact that Malfoy was not willing to sleep alone at the chaise longue and she had to share the bed with him. But she did not feel comfortable sharing a bed with a man, even though she was married to him. Before marriage, Crookshanks was the only living that would snuggle in her arms, now beside her was a full grown man whom she needed to consummate with. She was not ready for it, at least she could feel he was ready either.

She stayed up late and woke up early so that she could gain control of situations, it was not easy but she managed to do so.

"Don't tell me you are actually afraid of parties and balls," said Malfoy. "You were that Krum's ball partner years ago."

"I am not afraid!" yelled Hermione. "It's just, I am thinking of Adrian Phelps."

"Don't tell me you fall in love with him at first sight, I am not buying such tales."

"I am not falling in love with anybody! You get that? I am just thinking of him, just!"

"So what exactly are you thinking about then, Mrs. Hermione Malfoy née Granger?"

Hermionerolled her eyes, must he really recite her whole title as if reminding her that she was not supposed to think of anyone but him? She began,

"He looks like a neighbour in my childhood."

Malfoy sat up straight, looking concerned.

"Neighbour?"

"I remember a boy that looks likes him living across the street."

She was not lying , the boy from childhood looked similar to the photos of Adrian Phelps. Those blue eyes were familiar.

Malfoy did not seem to believe this answer.

"What kind of tale is that? Knowing each other since childhood but parted for a couple of years, then reunite when they grow up?"

"If you don't believe me, it is completely fine!" said Hermione. "And one more thing, I need to get a more decent dress."

"I thought you are going to bring your old periwinkle blue dress."

She could not help but to feel the annoyance inside her.

"Come on, I was 15 at that time! I have grown!"

"Yeah, definitely," said Malfoy, smirking as his eyes gazed at her chest with half admiration and appreciation. Her face immediately turned crimson, it was a disturbing idea though she was his wife. No man would stare at his wife's chest for no reason.

"You pervert!"

Malfoy's laughter rang in the room, clearly entertained by her agitation. Ignoring him, she continued,

"After thinking for the whole night, I think the dress in my luggage is just not good enough for a party like that."

"Yeah, definitely."

"I'm going out," said Hermione, grabbing the key card and her wallet.

As she opened the door, Malfoy immediately pressed his hand against the door and closed it.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey," he said. "Calm down."

"No!"

"Calm down!"

"No, I am calm, I just need to get out and buy myself a decent dress. I am pretty sure that you do not want to accompany ladies to shopping."

"Well, I don't want you to get kidnap by any perverts around the corner."

"Do I look like I am going to get kidnapped in any second?"

"Yeah," replied Malfoy.

Hermione rolled her eyes, wondering how on earth did she manage to tolerate him. But one thing for sure is that he would not give up once he had made up his mind.

"Fine," she announced. "You can come with me."

Malfoy showed her his triumphant grin and they went out of the room. They headed to the restaurant and after careful thimking, they chose a table at the corner, hoping that their conversation would not arouse Muggles' suspicion.

"Hi, Hermione," said a female voice.

Turner walked towards them, with Morgan in his arm.

"I see you two obviously enjoying your trip," said Malfoy.

"You can also do that, you know," said Turner.

Being hugged by Malfoy was one of the few things she could not withstand.

"You boys enjoy your chat," said Hermione, getting up from the chair. "Me and Cassandra are going to get some goodies."

The two girls hurried off to the buffet table and grabbed their plates.

"Still not getting along with your handsome husband?" asked Morgan.

"You know the answer," said Hermione.

"He is not that bad, is he? Handsome, rich, caring..." said Morgan. "What's more, once you have his child, you are safe."

"And this will not happen unless the last minute."

"Do you love him?"

"I wish I don't have to."

"Well I think he likes you."

"Oh really?"

"A few drops of alcohol can help,"

"Really? Those kind of plans again?"

"Well, both of you have nothing to lose-"

"Obviously my virginity will be lost."

"You are going to give it to him anyway, it is just a matter of time."

"At least not now."

"You only have four months left after we go back to London."

Morgan helped herself some salad and passed the spoon to Hermione.

"Let me get some orange juice for Marcus. Want some too, Hermione?"

"No, thanks."

"No, I mean get some for Malfoy."

"No, he will think I put poison in his drink."

They headed back to their table.

"Markie, I get you an orange juice," said Morgan.

"Thanks, darling," replied Turner cheerfully and gave a kiss on his girlfriend's rosy cheek.

Hermione sat down and ate some lettuces. She tried to imagine herself being kissed by Malfoy, totally unimaginable.

"Hermione, have you prepared your dress for the party yet?" asked Morgan.

"I am going to get one later this afternoon," answered Hermione. "With a nosy security guard accompanying me."

"Nice title there, Malfoy," commented Turner, laughing.

"Can you shut up and eat your pancakes in peace?" said Malfoy, annoyed.

"Oooh, scary," said Turner and quickly wolfed down his cakes as he met Malfoy's eyes.

"Do you need my help?" offered Morgan. "You know men do not have sharp sense in fashion."

"It's okay, you two enjoy your day," said Hermione.

Right after Hermione and Malfoy finished their meal, they quickly headed to the nearby boutiques. Hermione was glad that she had taken Russian courses in Muggle World, communication seemed to have cut off once they went out of the hotel, English was still not yet widely known and Georgians' Russian was significantly better.

Hermione didn't realize that she had been shopping for three hours without lunch. But she decided that she would skip lunch and find her perfect dress, even when she knew Malfoy was starving. Well, a meal or less would not hurt that much, would it?

She stopped by an old-fashioned boutique, the gown was grey yet elegant, which would not attract too much attention at the party.

"Здравствуйте!" said Granger as they entered the shop.

"Whatever it is, doesn't sound Georgian," mumbled Malfoy.

Hermione let out a sigh. Must he really show his ignorance?

"Obviously you don't even have basic knowledge to world history," she said. "Georgia was part of Soviet Union and this is why most Georgians can sepak Russian."

"I study history of the wizarding world, not Muggle world!"

"Yet you are in a Muggle boutique."

It made Malfoy stay in silence, much to her delight.

An old man with thick grey eyebrows and beard came and greeted her.

"Я хочу платью, которые темные, синие предпочтительно, не яркие (I want dresses which are dark in colour, preferably blue, no bright colours)," said Hermione.

"Да, да, у нас есть много темных платьев здесь, (Yes, yes, we have a many dark dresses here)," replied the old man.

"Дай мне, пожалуйста. (Give them to me, please)."

The old man hurriedly picked up a few and she went into the fitting room. After thinking for a while, she chose a backless dark blue gown. As she came out, Malfoy was gawking at her, clearly dazed.

"Wonderful!" exclaimed a voice.

She looked at the far left and almost let out a gasp. Golden brown hair and captivating blue eyes, he was Adrian Phelps.

Immediately she covered it with a smile.

"It looks good on you," he commented. "It would look perfect if you have gloves...Джапаридзе, у вас есть мягкие синие перчатки (Japaridze, do you have soft blue gloves) ?"

The man took out a box from the shelf and gave it to Granger. The gloves were slightly lighter in colour than the dress, still it matched well.

"Thank you," said Hermione.

"You're welcome," said Phelps, grinning.

As she paid for the dress, Phelps asked,

"May I ask your name?"

"Er...I'm Emma Watson."

"Adrian Phelps," he introduced. "And that gentleman at the couch..."

"Oh he, he's...Tom Felton."

"You don't seem to be a citizen of Georgia," said Phelps. "Where do you come from?"

"Britain," said Hermione and after a short while, she asked, "You?"

"Oh, I was originally from Britain too, but I came here to work soon after graduation."

"Which university?"

"Edinburgh, Business Management" he replied. "You? Let me have a guess...UCL?"

She almost burst to laughter, both of them had never studied in university.

"Yes I am, English Literature."

"No wonder you have that kind of elegance that I do not see in normal girls."

Malfoy cleared his throat, apparently annoyed.

"Hope to see you some time in future," he said.

Hermione went to Malfoy, who looked displeased.

"Can't you just be a little bit more patient?"

"Yeah, I have been patient, three hours straight without lunch."

"I remember someone volunteers to accompany me."

"Yes, and look who we have met today!" exclaimed Malfoy. "Did you tell him your name?"

"I told him my name's Emma Watson and your name is Tom Felton."

"Seriously, same name with the Dark Lord?"

"You should be honoured to have the opportunity of using his name."

"You give yourself a cool name whereas I get a stupid name?"

"Take it or leave it, but you don't have a choice, I didn't have contacts of Georgian undertakers."

"Fine!" growled Malfoy.

* * *

 **Something intrigued me as I read the Reader Traffic, what is "Europe"? And I still feel bad for Czech being considered as a river.**

 **After Georgia, which country would on the list (apart from UK, obviously)? I would gladly hear some opinions.**

 **Thanks for the 21 followers!**


	7. Chapter 6 The Coronation Ceremony

**Thanks to Honoria Granger for alerting me the typo.**

 **Another thing that I would like to make it clear, the previous chapter is a spin-off, narrated from the 3rd perspective of Hermione Granger, so the chapter would be extremely similar to Chapter 5, which is narrated from the 3rd perspective of Draco Malfoy.**

* * *

HG's POV

Make up has never been a talent for Hermione, the Winzegamot was full of elderly who had gotten married for at least half of a century, the Auror Office did not require her to wear make up, Harry and Ron knew her for more than a decade and she mainly stayed in Malfoy's Office for the case of Phelps, wearing make up would only make Malfoy sneer at her.

Morgan offered her help, it was her area of expertise, before Hermione could say anything, she had applied eye liner and all sorts of cream on her.

"If I had not known you, I would have thought you always apply mask and moisturizing cream on your face," commented Morgan. "You are a natural beauty. If only you know how beautiful you can be."

"Come on, we are Aurors, not models."

"I am not talking about your work," said Morgan. "I am talking about your life."

"What my life?"

"Your love life."

Hermione could not believe what she had just heard.

"You are still thinking that I should go and seduce Malfoy?"

"All men like beautiful ladies."

"And Malfoy is not any man," explained Hermione. "He's a Malfoy and I am just any Muggleborn whom he thinks does not fit to be his wife."

"And now you are creating excuses for yourself."

Hermione did not say anything. Was what she had said an excuse? At least it was truth.

"Imagine how lovely you will be tonight, even Phelps would fall for you."

Phelps...since the last encounter, more mystery shrouded around the case. Judging by his amiable appearance and seemingly friendly character, he did not seem to be suspicious at all. If he was hiding something, surely he would not appear in front of her, at least he would alter his looks first.

"All done!" Morgan exclaimed. "Now look at you."

Hermione stared straight into the mirror, she looked a lot different from her old self. The eyes looked more energetic and the cream covered up her freckles. She twirled around, everything looked almost perfect, if she had to complain, the back was a bit too breezy.

"Could wear a coat or something," said Morgan as she noticed Hermione's eyes staring at her back. "But trust me, you are going to be the spotlight tonight."

"The Prince _is_ the spotlight," clarified Hermione. "I am just a guest, a guest under the disguise of Emma Watson. So don't call me Hermione in front of anyone, understand?"

"Yes, Your Loveliness," replied Morgan, smiling sweetly.

A knock rang at the door and Turner sped straight to the door, Malfoy came, and immediately his head turned left, looking at Hermione. Under the bathroom light, her translucent skin glistened. Her back was flawless and smooth like velvet. Realizing that he had been staring at her for too long, he slightly shook his head, regained sense and said,

"Trying to seduce all men, are you, Granger?"

"Well that's none of your business!"

Malfoy tried to argue but he turned away and muttered,

"Put on a coat!"

Hermione looked at Morgan, much annoyed and whispered,

"See?"

Morgan shrugged and they went out of the bathroom, Turner was standing up at the window, looking at the River Mtkvari. Malfoy was resting in the armchair, seemingly not interested in anything.

"So, here's the party schedule this evening," began Turner. "The party officially begins at six sharp, guests will have some fun and dance till nine, then it's time for the coronation session and the party will end at around eleven."

"Even longer than the Yule Ball," sighed Morgan.

"Well what do you expect," snapped Malfoy. "It's a coronation ceremony, not any school events."

"One thing that we must all remember," said Turner. "Our identities."

"I have notified the Ministry about that," explained Morgan. "We would be under the pseudonyms of Anne Anderson and Frank Lustig, Emma Watson and Tom Felton."

"What kind of name is that?" scoffed Malfoy. "Anne Anderson and Frank Lustig?"

"Too late to change," announced Turner. "The Ministry has already changed the names, from this moment onwards, staff of the hotels would only address us with those names."

Malfoy looked displeased and Hermione somehow noticed that he muttered a vulgar word.

"Back to our business," said Morgan. "Even though the royal family are wizards and witches, Muggles are invited and so we have to hide our wands."

"How are we supposed to do that?" exclaimed Malfoy. "We are wearing suits and gowns, dancing and chatting!"

"So either place our wands somewhere in a room," said Turner. "Or one of us is going to stay in the corner and guard them."

"One of us stay," said Hermione immediately. "We cannot risk anyone stealing our wands."

"She has the point," mumbled Malfoy, looking at Turner.

"Fine, I will guard your wands," said Turner.

"Me and Marcus will stay at the corners and try our best to observe the environment," said Morgan and she swished her wand, a map conjured in front of them. "Hermione and Draco can...walk around and keep your eyes on Phelps."

"Certainly someone always have her eyes on him," sneered Malfoy and instantly Hermione's face turned scarlet.

"At least I know how to stay professional," snapped Hermione. "Someone will just flirt with girls and forget his job."

"At least I don't defend a suspect right at the beginning just because he looks like someone from childhood."

"At least I know 'Innocent Until Proven Guilty'!"

"Hey, calm down," said Turner. "If we start arguing here, we are never going to know our plan."

After a moment of silence, Morgan began,

"The Georgian crown is rumoured to be magical, as the heir to the throne ascends and wears this crown, his name would appear on the stone wall of the castle. But if the heir does not wear it within a year, the last holder of the crown would automatically become the ruler. And if the heir is killed, the killer will become the heir unless they have offsprings."

"Sounds like Elder Wand," said Hermione. "The winner gets to keep the Elder Wand."

"Even worse than Elder Wand," said Morgan darkly. "You can still live after defeated and have the wand taken away. In this case, the heir must die."

"So we must male sure that Phelps does not steal the crown or harm the Prince," said Malfoy, drawing conclusion.

"Just stay on guard."

They nodded and handed over their wands to Turner. In order not to rise suspicion, they took a taxi. It was a relief that Hermione could use Russian, the driver originally wanted to overcharge them since knowing that they were foreigners. But Hermione's impeccable Russian beat him and both side agreed to pay 10 lari before departing.

The palace was just like Hogwarts, only that it was not surrounded by water or enchanted. Muggles could still see it, as the taxi driver was able to point at the palace. The driver dropped them off at the entrance and they went in with their invitation cards in their hands. A young chestnut brown haired women waved at them.

"Good evening, I am Tali, please follow me."

She led them to a chamber on the far end of the aisle. As she closed the door, she began,

"I hope that you all understand this is a secret request, I inform no one but the Prince, not even the Princess knows this."

"Yes, we understand."

"We cannot take any risk, the coronation session would be recorded for television. It is fortunate that no journalists will be coming."

"Leave it to us."

Tali nodded.

"I trust you. When you are ready, proceed to the ball room."

Tali left. And as her footsteps faded, Malfoy muttered,

"Strange..."

"How strange?" asked Morgan, concerned and alarmed.

"She tells no one but the Prince? How is she so sure that the Prince won't tell his wife about this? What's more, she is Shafiq's assistant."

"You have the point," said Turner, worried. "But this is not the appropriate time for discussion. Now everyone take one."

Turner lay out his hand. Four small round balls were in his palm.

"Contact chocolate balls, much like Muggles' wireless communicator," said Turner. "We will be able to hear from others and talk to them even when they are far away from each other."

Hermione swallowed one and so did others. After getting used to it, Turner began,

"Code for today, Snitch for Phelps, Quaffle is the crown, Bludgers are the Prince and Princess."

"What about Tali?" asked Malfoy.

"Erm...broom."

They headed straight to the ball room and it amazed them. It was almost the size of two Hogwarts Quidditch pitches, a little bit larger than the international Quidditch field. Crowds were everywhere and they saw the the royal couple standing at the front of the room. Beside it was a glass box, the crown lay smoothly inside it on a cushion.

"Prince Nikoloz...Princess Tania."

Princess Tania was dressed in a tight black evening gown, her dark brown hair was tied in a bun and her lips were red like blood. The wide deep eyes glanced sideways as if she did not care about the ceremony. Her gold earrings and diamond necklace glistened under chandelier, creating an air of aristocracy and elegance. Though Hermione hated to admit, Princess Tania was a typical Pureblood and a woman that was always out of anyone's reach.

Prince Nikoloz was the opposite of her, he was a cheerful man, always smiling and greeting guests with politeness. A true Prince Charming, Hermione would describe. The only thing that looked weird was that he did not seem to have the compatibility with his wife, their contrary auras made people unable to believe that they were a couple.

"I think we should just stay here and keep a lookout," suggested Morgan.

Hermione agreed and without further delay, she and Malfoy hurried towards them and greeted.

"Good evening, Your Highnesses."

"Please, call me Tania," said the Princess.

Despite the seemingly warm and friendly invitation, Hermione could feel that she did not want to be addressed by purely her name.

"You must be Mr. Felton and Ms. Watson," said Nikoloz. "Please enjoy yourselves."

"Thank you."

As they backed away and examined the area, Malfoy asked,

"What do you plan to do tonight?"

"Huh?"

"Well, we can't stick together for the whole night," he explained. "It would raise too much suspicion."

"And someone just comment that I look too seductive."

"I didn't tell you to go for men!" said Malfoy angrily, gritting out words through his teeth. "What I mean is Phelps is probably spying on us, so we have to be careful."

"Hello? Can you hear me?" asked a voice in their brains.

"Yes, Morgan?" answered Hermione.

"The Snitch is up the stairs, coming in any time, be prepared."

"Great," mumbled Hermione.

The door swung open and Phelps emerged in his silvery-white tuxedo, his eyes scanned across the room and finally met Hermione's. Smiling, he slid through crowds and came towards her. Malfoy sniffed with annoyance and went off.

"What a surprise to see you here, Miss Watson," said Phelps. "We meet again."

"Indeed a surprise but I am glad you are here."

"May I have a dance with you?"

He bowed and offered his hand, Hermione accepted without hesitance. It would be a great opportunity to open his mind and perhaps he might let slip off some important details during conversation. He escorted her to the middle of the ball room and music immediately started. He bowed as Hermione curtsied, and his arm wrapped around her waist.

"Waltz of the Flowers, like it?" he asked.

"I never doubt Tchaikovsky's talent, but this one is going to be long."

"Don't worry, I will guide you."

He was good at dancing, Hermione had to admit. Within the first few minutes, she could find back the feeling of dancing with Krum at the Yule Ball.

"You come here alone?" he asked.

"No, I have a few friends here."

"Did you not dance with them?"

"No, they are not fans of dancing."

"Then I am truly honoured, to have you as the dance partner."

His clear blue eyes stared into hers, they were warm and swirling, and the longer she stared, the dizzier she became. A round of applause snapped her out of reality and she saw Phelps bowing, quickly she hid her awkwardness with a curtsy.

"You dance well, Miss Watson," said Phelps as they got out of the dance floor.

"You flatter me," replied Hermione as she felt her cheeks growing scarlet.

"Never would I imagine that you would be invited," said Phelps as they got out of the dance floor and headed to the balcony. "Are you a journalist of Britain?"

Hermione remembered that Tali had mentioned no journalists were invited in this coronation ceremony. So she replied,

"No."

"So what is your occupation?"

Hermione's mind span, what occupation would make her appearance reasonable?

"Have a guess," she said, hoping that it would help her gain more time for thinking.

"You are making my life difficult," he said, laughing. "You are asking me to find a needle in a haystack."

"I believe your intelligence and luck can help you."

"I give up."

"I work for a jewellery company."

"Asprey?"

"You got it."

"Wow, British Warrant holder," he gasped. "Now that's the real surprise."

"You? You don't seem to be any businessmen."

"I am just one of the many assistants of the royal family," he said. "I just get lucky to be here."

He was not totally lying, only the royal family would know how many assistants they had.

"Where in Britain are you living?" he asked. "Don't tell me to make a guess. Britain is too large."

Hermione chuckled and she answered,

"I lived in Derbyshire before, but currently I live in Wiltshire."

"Derbyshire! That's my home town too!"

The exclamation and excitement on his face made Hermione dazed, unable to react. Could he really be what she had been thinking?

"Don't tell me you lived near the Hospital-"

"Yes, I was! Royal Derby, right?"

Hermione was speechless.

"You are that bushy haired girl!"

It was an awkward moment, then a voice rang,

"Ladies and gentlemen, the coronation session will begin in thirty minutes."

"Please be excused," said Phelps and left after a deep bow.

Soon after he disappeared into the crowd, Malfoy came.

"You notice that your cheeks were blood red, don't you?"

Hermione touched her cheeks, it was steaming hot.

"It's a torture hearing you and that Phelps flirting-"

"I am NOT flirting-"

"Not flirting?" yelled Malfoy and he went closer to Hermione. "And who says 'have a guess' then?"

"That was just a line to help me-"

"Help you what? Get him into loving you?"

"Stop it, Malfoy! I am serious!"

"Oh, yeah? I am serious too. I told you, he's a suspect-"

"And he's innocent until we get enough evidence-"

"Evidence? What just happened is an evidence of you being coquettish and a betrayal-"

"Betrayal of what?"

"Of me!"

Malfoy was staring into her eyes, trying to make her stop talking. Hermione gulped, and tried to reason,

"I told you, I am just trying to get more information out of his tongue-"

"You say that again-"

"Look, I am being serious!"

"You say that again-"

"I told you-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Malfoy stopped her with his lips, and his tongue invaded as she gasped. Each time when she tried to breathe in for more air, his tongue went deeper, seeking more. He pushed her backwards until her back could feel the cold stony wall. Her tongue tried to shove off his tongue but the touch made hers numb, unable to defend herself. Finally when he backed off, his eyes were still penetrating, looking intently hers. She was nearly out of breath, panting hard and unable to speak a word.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for joining us tonight at our castle," said Tali. "And now, may I invite His Holiness and Beatitude, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Metropolitan bishop of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazia, Ilia II."

An old man got up from the chair and with the help of a young man in red. He spoke a lengthy Georgian speech and then it was time for the Prince to go on stage. Phelps took out the cushion with the crown from the glass box and slowly carrying it to the Prince. The moment when he stepped onto the stage, light suddenly turned off.

Gasps echoed through the room and Hermione reached for her pocket.

No wand.

Tali's voice immediately said,

"Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm. The backup power will come on shortly."

Just as she finished the sentence, lights turned on again and screams flew across the room.

The crown was gone.

* * *

 **The mystery starts here now. What do you think?**


	8. Chapter 7 End of Investigation

DM's POV

The ground was searched for the whole night, yet without progress. Draco and Granger sat down at the corner, while Morgan kept pacing and mumbling "I should have looked more carefully". Turner was frustrated and apologized for taking their wands. Draco could not blame them, for he had agreed to the idea.

Phelps was originally his main suspect, but for this time, he made himself innocent, the police officers (a term he learned from Granger) had searched him through and through, no conclusion could be made. Invisibility cloak would not be possible, the dogs would have sniffed the crown out. And it was not possible for him to take out a wand and make it vanish, he would need enough time to hold the wand. Time Turner was not possible, the Ministry does not allow people keep any Time Turners. Draco really wanted to say he was the mastermind, but no evidence could backup his charge.

"Let's check the CCTV," suggested Tali. "We should be able to say something."

"What's a-"

Before Draco could say anything further, Granger pinched him and made him say no more. The guards led them to the security room and checked the cameras.

"It would not be useful," said Tania darkly. "If they had the plan to steal the crown, then they should know about the cameras."

"Not quite. Yesterday evening, I installed night vision on all of them. I also _make sure_ that they are still working properly. So no worries, Your Royal Highness."

Tania's face darkened, as if not pleased by Tali's words.

The video wound and returned to the scene of crime. Night vision was well installed and the crime was clearly visible. It was a tall slim figure in the dark that snatched the crown. The whole process was done so smoothly that the figure disappeared before the lights turned back on.

"So now at least we know it's a human," concluded Phelps, then he immediately bowed. "I apologize, Your Majesty, I am unworthy of the job. I should have been more careful."

"Well, it's not entirely your fault," said Nikoloz. "That person must have planned it for a long time."

Just as they indulged themselves in contemplation, a knock interrupted them. A guard came in and after a deep bow, he said,

"The crown is found, Your Majesty."

Draco raised his brow. Was that so easy to find something that was greatly devoured by someone who was willing to pull such a trick and baffled everyone behind shrouds of mystery?

Two guards came in with a scrawny shivering man, his kneels fell and he lowered his head.

"We found this servant hiding in one of those abandoned chambers," said the guard and snatched the crown from the man's grip.

Draco frowned. The man looked startled and panic-stricken, he was certainly not the kind of person who would dare to steal anyone of the royal family's possession. Mostly, he would be a scapegoat, threatened by the mastermind and he had no choice but to admit all those crimes.

Nikoloz took the crown and examined it. Then, he roared,

"Take him away!"

The guards dragged him away.

"Adrian, seal off the media, we must not let them know what has happened. Prepare a speech for me and I shall be make announcement through media at nine in the morning."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Phelps bowed and left the room.

"Tali, you must be tired," said Tania. "You may take a rest."

Tali looked at Nikoloz, then left with a bow. As her footsteps faded, Nikoloz threw the crown onto the floor. The crown smashed into pieces, startling everyone in the room.

"Trying to fool me with a fake crown," growled Nikoloz.

"Your Majesty, we will help you," said Granger. "The British Ministry is always ready to assist you."

Tania raised her brows and glanced at her husband. Immediately Nikoloz said,

"I invited them."

"We apologize for tonight's inconvenience," said Tania, with a hint of annoyance to the fact that she was blinded by her husband.

"What should be our plan for now?" asked Draco.

"Perhaps we will hand over this case to the Georgia Ministry," answered Tania. "We do not want to bother you for too long."

Nobody said a word, then Nikoloz said,

"Just take a rest for now. We will contact you if we need your assistance."

Granger looked disappointed, Turner patted her shoulder and they left the security room.

"I can't believe this," said Granger as they went downstairs. "So does that mean it is _our_ end of investigation?"

"What else can we do then?" asked Draco. "They don't want us to help out."

"Oh, I nearly forgot," said Turner and he took out their wands from his bag. "Your wands."

Draco snatched back his wand.

"Should have kept it at first place," grumbled Draco.

"I'm sorry," said Turner.

"It's alright," said Granger. "He's just sulking."

"Shut up," said Draco.

"So are we packing?" asked Morgan, worried. "We have no reason to be here anymore."

"Perhaps we should go back to the Office and asked for opinions," said Draco.

"Just when I want to see more of Georgia," said Morgan and sighed. "We have to go back."

Draco said nothing. Everything seemed to happen too sudden, too quick to be true. It left them no clue to trace, the royal family did not seem to want their help, and what can they possibly do?

Potter could give them reasonable advice and instructions, though he hated thinking about him. He knew Potter could give him some valuable and decent suggestions, like what should their next step be and where should they start first. It was not that he could not make decisions for himself, he just did not want to create further troubles and make Granger grumbling like a shrivel grandmother who was sour like a gooseberry.

Arriving at the hotel room, Draco quickly loosened his tie and plummeted onto the bed, which earned him a kick in the waist.

"Auch! Seriously Granger, can you not be a little bit ladylike?" yelled Draco, rubbing his waist.

"Can you not ruin my sleeping area?" yelled back Granger, shoving him to the other side of the bed. "If you want to create a mess at your own place, I am fine with that, but this is _my_ area and I did not permit you ruining it!"

"The night when we sleep together, we are ruined," said Draco, chuckling. He still could not understand why she kept this attitude even when they were married.

"Take off your dirty clothes!" shouted Granger, pulling the sleeve of his jacket suit.

"So eager to take off my clothes, Granger?" said Draco, laughing. "Never see you being so impatient."

Granger put down his sleeve and said,

"I'm going to bath, and you better not come in!"

"Now you give me such a useful suggestion!" said Draco, laughing loudly.

Granger ignored him and closed the bathroom door once she got her evening gown. The doorbell rang and immediately her voice impatiently called from behind the door,

"Answer it, Malfoy!"

Groaning, he got up from bed and went to the door. It was early two o'clock in the middle of the night, he could not think of anyone that would bother them at this time of the day.

Turned out it was a young man in hotel uniform, yawning nonstop.

"Urgent letters, sir. One for Mr. Tom Felton and two for Miss Emma Watson."

He got the letters and closed the door, and instantly Granger's voice rang,

"What's that?"

"Letters for you and me," replied Malfoy.

"Put mine on the table."

Draco walked to the table and examine the letters. Two were obviously from the Ministry, he could recognize the official writing style. The other one, which was for Granger, was in oddly neat cursive, written on a purely white and smooth parchment. Well, no point in fondling over her letters even though it was strange to have white parchment for letters. So he sat back and read his letter.

 _Dear Mr. Malfoy,_

 _We are terribly sorry for the forced end of investigation in Georgia. Mr. Potter would like to meet you and discuss further actions. He requested for earliest arrival._

 _Please also drop by St. Mungos' Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries at three sharp tomorrow._

 _Thank you for your kind attention, we await for your return._

 _Ministry of Magic_

It was no surprise that the Ministry could be informed about this as quick as that, the Georgian Ministry was efficient. But he never expected to be asked to pay a visit at St. Mungos', as if it was a matter of urgency. Probably he would be placed in Janus Thickey Ward, facing Granger for 24 hours a day and even sharing the same bed for every night could quickly earn him a fast-pass to the long-term residence ward.

Granger still had not yet come out, he had nothing to do. Staring at the letters on the table, he had an idea. Surely she would not suspect him using magic to seal back the letter.

He took the paper out of the white envelope and he could not believe his eyes. It was from Phelps.

 _Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?_  
 _Thou art more lovely and more temperate:_  
 _Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,_  
 _And summer's lease hath all too short a date:_  
 _Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,_  
 _And too often is his gold complexion dimm'd:_  
 _And every fair from fair sometimes declines,_  
 _By chance or natures changing course untrimm'd;_  
 _By thy eternal summer shall not fade,_  
 _Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;_  
 _Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,_  
 _When in eternal lines to time thou growest:_  
 _So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,_  
 _So long lives this and this gives life to thee._

Even though he did not know that Phelps could be such a great poet, he could surely understand that Phelps was trying to woo Granger. The next paragraph was written in cursive Cyrillic. If he had not written in cursive, he could use some translation books to interpret the sentences.

 _В_ _воскресенье_ _в_ _шесть часов_ вечером _я_ _буду встречать тебя в Косом переулке,_

 _Мне_ _о_ _чень приятно_ _, чтобы обедать с тобой_ _на южном районе_ _в Дырявой котелe_ _._

(On Sunday evening at six o'clock, I will meet you at Diagon Alley,

It is my pleasure to dine with you at the southern area of Leaky Cauldron)

He eyed on the two lines for quite a while but could not decipher them so he gave up and sealed it back. He decided that it would be best for him to follow her if she ever went out without a proper reason.

"Seriously, Granger, it has been half an hour, are you done yet?" roared Malfoy and he went to the bathroom door, knocking until he heard Granger's reply.

"Just a few more minutes!"

"It's half past two in the middle of the night! While you are taking your bath, I can take a quick shower!"

"No-"

Before Granger could say anything more, Draco had opened the door and gawked at his sight. Granger was still having her dress on, clearly trying to get her zipper work.

"I told you not to get in-" she began.

"You can just call me for help! Then I won't be staying out there, waiting for you!"

He walked over the Granger and pulled down the zipper. The zipper worked smoothly and the dress slid down. Granger gasped as her body faced the coldness in the bathroom. Her navy lingerie contrasted with her complexion, drawing much of Draco's attention. Granger turned away and yelled,

"Stop it!"

Draco grinned.

"Get out!"

Granger shoved him out of the bathroom and slammed the door. Soon as Draco heard her enjoying herself in the bathtub, he got in again.

"Hey!" yelled Granger.

"Hey what?"

"I'm bathing-"

"While I'm showering. I am not that kind of pervert who drools over dry plain bodies."

He could sense her awkwardness. Chuckling, he went into the encased glass shower. Soon steam covers the glass and he could sense Granger relaxed a bit. It felt marvellous when water jets pelted on his hair and his face. He could not quite understand why Granger insisted on using the bathtub when the shower was actually more efficient and splendid.

He got out of the shower and admire his own body at the mirror. It was a miracle that he could keep his body in shape, his skin was still glowing and fats were not visible. He actually loved desserts a lot and indulged himself a lot but the idea of getting fat led him to the thought of Crabbe and Goyle, which stopped him from eating.

He could see Granger submerging herself into the tub of water, with her hair floating on the surface.

"Let's see how long you can last under water," said Draco with a smirk. "Just like old times, in the Black Lake. Too bad I'm not going to save you like what Bulgarian Krummie did."

Granger slowly emerged from the water, trying not to stare at Draco's direction, all her moves were reflected on the slightly foggy mirror. He put on his bathrobes and went out. The cold wind came in and Granger immediately sank back to the water, Draco laughed and closed the door.

* * *

Push and Pull were more than happy to see Draco and Granger coming back. They cooked a table of feast and Draco grinned as he watched Granger trying to stuff all food in her stomach.

"Are you going back the Office?" asked Granger.

"You read my letters, did you not?"

"Do I look like I need to read somebody's letter?"

Draco shrugged.

"Come on, the earlier we end the matter, the happier both of us will be."

They apparated to the London telephone booth and got to the Auror Office. Potter was in the office, waiting for them. Weasley saw them and said,

"Glad you come back."

"How's everything with Pansy?" asked Granger and Draco doubted if she was trying to take the chance of sneering at him.

Weasley's face turned crimson.

"Well, fine, I'd say, at least I'm here in one piece," he replied.

"She didn't bother Mrs. Weasley, did she?"

"She is...at least Mum didn't complain," answered Weasley. "And...she's...expecting."

"Expecting?" asked Granger, and Draco had to roll his eyes. Did Granger act that out?

"A baby!" snapped Malfoy.

"Oh," said Granger, with a hint of worry mixed with happiness. "That's wonderful...Congrats."

"Thanks," mumbled Weasley.

"Talk to you later," said Granger and she pulled Draco to Potter's office door, knocked three times before entering.

Potter looked at them, as if he had prepared a lengthy speech.

"I know you must be feeling bad for being called back," said Harry. "But we are not putting an end yet."

"They do not want our assistance," said Draco. "We can't do anything."

"We will help them find the crown."

"What?" exclaimed Granger and her eyes glistened. "We have traces about the crown?"

"Not much, but the crown is said to be hidden in somewhere in Russia or Canada, that's what most of the information we get say."

"You are asking to find one tiny thing in the two world's largest countries," said Draco, staring at Potter. "Do you really think that we can do it?"

"Of course we are not searching blindfolded, we have collected lots of documents from different wizards and witches in the two countries, we will look through them, and that's what we can currently do. A few says the crown is in some place in Africa and even Asia."

Draco took a breath and said,

"Nothing effective that we can do. Great."

"After I come back from St. Mungos', we will start our work," said Granger. "A day is a day and an hour is an hour."

Malfoy stared at her, alarmed.

"You're going to St. Mungos' too?"

Granger raised her brow, then said,

"What a coincidence."

"I guess they are going to put you in long-term residence ward," said Draco. "You know, since last night we-"

"Shut up!" yelled Granger.

Draco gave her a smirk.

"Alright, just come back as soon as possible," said Potter and he opened the door using his wand. "I will ask Melanie to prepare all the documents for you."

Draco and Granger got up and headed to Purge and Dowse, Ltd. The Ministry had thought of building special channels for easier access but this idea was banned since the channels would be very long and apparently speaking to the dummy would be quicker.

"Good afternoon," said the Welcome Witch at the reception area. "What brings you here?"

"Requested by the Ministry," said Granger.

"And your name is..."

"Gra-Malfoy."

The Welcome Witch scanned through her notes, then she said,

"Mr. Malfoy, your Healer would be in Room 405, on the right hand side. Mrs. Malfoy, your Healer would be in Room 412, just opposite to your husband's room."

So they were heading the the Fourth Floor, Draco thought and shot a nasty grin at Granger as they got into the lift.

"Told you we would be admitted to Janus Thickey Ward," he said.

"I would definitely request for a fast-pass," said Granger. "The healer should be astounded that I can actually tolerate your existence."

"Same to you, my lovely wife," said Malfoy. "Perhaps we would share the same bed in the ward."

Granger rolled her eyes.

"See you later, _Mrs. Malfoy_ ," said Draco, curling his lips as he parted with Granger.

The moment when he entered the room, he was paralyzed.

"It's nice to see you have some interactions with your wife, Draco."

"Aren't you two in Fr-"

"Yes, we were in France," said his father. "But the Ministry requests for our attendance in this counselling session."

He did not expect both of them to appear, and it was even worse when the Healer was his old friend, Nott.

"Glad to see you, Draco," said Nott. "This counselling session is going to be entertaining."

Draco let out a deep breath and sat down at the chair, facing the three of them.

"It seems that you are having some trouble in following Ministry's law."

"And which part of the law did I not uphold?" asked Draco.

"Apparently, the Marriage Law."

Draco's smile faded.

"How many months have it been?" asked his mother. "20 months!"

"We were busy-"

"So busy that you cannot even spare a few hours," annunciated his father. "What should I say about you?"

"Well, she's going to kill me if I-"

"And who always says that he can make any woman fall for him?" said Nott, smirking.

Draco was frustrated, he scratched his head and rubbed his face.

"You are scared, Draco," said Nott. "Scared."

"I'm not scared!"

"Well do it then!" snapped his mother. "Stop tarnishing our family name. We do not have cowards as sons."

"You just don't understand-"

"Do I need to give you a Love Potion?"

It made Draco speechless.

"In that case, I will just help you two get a child-bearing permit, a tailor-made household unit and a month days off," said Nott, writing down his words on his papers.

"We're currently solving a huge case, we cannot just leave it to-"

"I'm sure your superior could easily substitute you two," said Mr. Malfoy. "Although I hate to admit, Marves and Weasley are capable of the job."

"Just think about this," said Nott and began his explanation. "You don't really need to get her pregnant, you just need to consummate with her, and that's all! Nobody says you must get yourself a child."

Draco pondered, Nott was right, the law only asked them to consummate within the first two years, it did not ask him to get a child unless he really wanted tax waive.

* * *

 **I made small amendments in previous chapters, and you will see why, keeping track with time is one of the problems that I often stumble upon.**

 **This chapter is made a lot longer than the others since I have to account the two plots together.**

 **Story Stats intrigues me much, of course most readers here (well at least for my stories) are from English-speaking countries, but this time, Poland comes forth, which surprises me since I usually do not have that many Polish readers. (Czesc! Milo Panstwa poznac!)**

 **I know it is somehow too wishful thinking that I would receive a bunch of reviews or suggestions, still I am going to ask this.**

 **A suggestion to which country shall we visit next.**

 **I know I wrote Canada and Russia in this chapter, but that is merely one-sided thinking. I would gladly hear your opinion, you are part of this story (at least you part-icipate as a reader). You have the opportunity to create a part in this story.**


	9. Chapter 8 A Night with Phelps and Malfoy

**Before this chapter, a few points of the plots need clarification and mostly, it was my brain's fault of losing track of time and plot.**

 **1\. Yes. Almost 2 years in less than 10 chapters. Everything seemed to happen one after one without passage of time, well what could one say? One never realizes time flies when one indulges in happiness.**

 **2\. Why would Phelps ask Hermione out? Perhaps we should let Hermione explain for herself.**

 **3\. If you think that the case is just as simple as that, you have underestimated everything. Hints are dropped in the previous chapters, waiting, mixed with quartz grains, rose and amethyst.**

 **The crown's hiding place is set and let us see how long does it take for them to find it/for me to write it.**

 **CONTENT ALERT! IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE OR EXCESSIVELY PRISSY TOWARDS SUCH CONTENT...**

 **I can't help you.**

* * *

HG'S POV

It was already more than unpleasant to pay a visit to St. Mungos', the worst was the three women in the room.

"Luna?" exclaimed Hermione. "Ginny?"

"Mrs. Malfoy, if you don't mind, please take your seat and we will start the session," said the Healer.

Hermione sat down and began,

"Well, what are we here for?"

"Not 'we'," said Ginny. "You."

"I don't quite understand what you mean."

"How many months has it been since that day you sign the papers?"

Hermione opened her mouth, trying to answer. Then she realized why her appearance was requested.

"I still have four months," she said. "The law only says 'two years', not twenty months."

"Are you telling us that you would like to loose your job?" snapped the Healer.

"It is not that hard, is it?" said Luna with her airy tone. "Imagine sleeping beside Malfoy, how blissful can it be!"

"It isn't as easy as you think," explained Hermione. "He's not giving in! And what can I do?"

"And did you try?" asked Ginny, staring into her eyes.

"Well, I-"

"You didn't."

Hermione tried to argue.

"You are just saying this because your husband is Harry," she said. "Malfoy has been loathing me since the first day at Hogwarts, and now you are telling to me love him!"

"Just pretend he is not Draco Malfoy!" exclaimed Ginny, starting to get both excited and annoyed. "Just think of him as a date! Don't you have anyone in mind? Just any man that you like!"

"Well, Dumbledore is going to come out from the portrait if he knows that."

Luna burst into laughter.

"Dumbledore! Haha, not bad!"

"If you think Dumbledore as a date, it's perfectly fine."

"Well, I have heard young Dumbledore is very handsome, Daddy says he is just next to Gellert Grindelwald. We have the Mr. Handsome rank in one volume of Quibbler."

"That doesn't help, Luna," said Hermione and sighed.

"Do you need a subscription of Love Potion?" asked the Healer, slightly annoyed. "It would definitely cease your doubts."

Hermione licked her lips and said,

"No, thank you."

"Well then hurry up," said the Healer, her quilt quickly ran across the paper. "Remember, you don't have much time."

Hermione and her friends stood up and left the room.

"Harry's waiting in his office," said Ginny, hardly hiding her grin. "We're going to have a lavish meal at Diagon Alley."

"See you later!" said Hermione.

The moment when Ginny disappeared from sight, Luna said,

"Actually I don't quite agree with her."

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, looking at Luna, who appeared to be indulging herself in meditation.

"Daddy says when you get married to a man, accept for who he is and abandon the past."

"Past is what builds Rome today," argued Hermione.

"But one never moves on if one keeps thinking about the past," explained Luna. "Just like old times, Hermione. If we keep on thinking about those dark days, we can never embrace the future. If we never forgive dark witches and wizards, we would still be holding grudge against them."

Hermione thought for a while, she had forgiven Malfoy being a Death Eater, in fact she never cared much whether he was a Death Eater or not. Staying beside him never made her feel uncomfortable, she just knew that he would not hex her or play dirty pranks on her, despite of the fact that he had hit her with Densaugeo hex. That was an accident, she told herself, he was not really targetting her.

Just as she went back to the Auror Office, the letter on the desk reminded her that Phelps had actually asked her out. At first, she was shocked to see him asking her to spend the evening with her at Diagon Alley when she had been disguising herself as a Muggle. Nikoloz and Tania could have informed him about this, it just made things easier, she could lure him into exposing details and secrets without having to worry much about her identity. All she needed to do was to come up with another occupation and she decided that it would be best to impose as a staff of Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, she had heard Ron talking about Mr. Weasley's job. It would be easy for her to spin tales with those stories told by Ron.

* * *

Time passed quicker than Hermione imagined, Sunday finally arrived and Hermione's mind had been thinking of Phelps for the whole morning. To be honest with herself, she was excited. Not just because she could get to meet Phelps, it was also a date, though it was a date with a suspect. She and Malfoy never had dates, and every time when they walked together, quarrels were bound to happen.

She scanned her closet for a dozen times, one thing she regretted most was the inadequate clothes for different occasions. She had two casual emergency suits of clothes, two suits for work and two dresses which were too formal for any dates. She could not instantly buy one now, time would be horribly limited and she hated to be late.

Push and Pull were in the living room, polishing furniture. The moment when they see Hermione in pink fleece jacket and blue jeans, satchel strapped on the shoulder and hair tied in a ponytail, they immediately bowed and asked,

"Is Madame going out?"

"Yes," she replied. "Oh, I am dining out tonight so just make Mal-I mean Draco's portion."

Push and Pull's large round eyes watered.

"Madame is dining out tonight?"

"Yes. I need to meet an important person."

"Madame is not dining with Master?"

Oh no, Hermione thought, knowing that something bad was going to happen.

Push and Pull began banging their heads on each other's. The bangs echoed through the manor, making Hermione helpless.

"No! Please stop!"

"Bad Push! Bad Pull!"

"What's going on here?" asked Malfoy's voice.

He slowly walked down the stairs in his usual tight black suit. Push and Pull hurriedly went to him and fell on their knees, wailing,

"Madame is dining out tonight!"

Malfoy's face darkened, then he asked,

"Phelps, is it?"

"That's really none of your business!" answered Hermione.

"My business is to keep watch on my wife."

"So?"

"It is my business if you are going out on a date with him."

"Correction, the law doesn't say I can't go on a date, it just asks me to get married to you, which is a feat that we have already accomplished."

"Can you two quit banging your head and shut up?" roared Malfoy.

At instant, the two house elves stopped banging their heads against the floor.

"But he is Phelps! Are you sure you want to go on a date with Office's primary suspect?"

"You can treat this as a mission, to get him into telling truth," argued Hermione. "And this is really not your business, the law doesn't mention that you have to be with your wife in the same area for the whole day. Goodbye!"

"Wait-"

Hermione had waved the wand and apparated to Diagon Alley before Malfoy could grab her hand. But the moment when she caught the glimpse of Diagon Alley, she got knocked down by a large figure. Just before her back fell onto the stony ground, an arm supported her waist and she got back up.

"Never expect you to pop up here," said Phelps, chuckling. "Miss Watson."

"Sorry," said Hermione, embarrassingly smiling.

"It's alright, lucky I got you," said Phelps and he withdrew his arm.

"When was your last time coming here?" asked Hermione as they walked towards Leaky Cauldron.

"Last time was more than ten years ago, I was here holding the Seventh Year's letter," explained Phelps. "You?"

"More two years ago," answered Hermione, recalling her memories. "I was on day offs and I got myself a box of books at Flourish and Blotts, I plan to get myself another box next week."

"Why not visiting the bookstore before having our meal?" suggested Phelps as they stopped in front of the entrance of pub. Then he added, "That is, if you are not hungry."

Hermione thought for a while, after dinner it would be too late to visit the bookstore, she would not have enough time to interrogate him.

"Let's go!" said Hermione, beaming at him.

They turned around and headed to the bookshop. The bookshop was quiet and it was a great opportunity to have a decent conversation with Phelps.

"So how're-"

"They are great," said Phelps, instantly knowing what she wanted to ask. "His Majesty has been searching and from the information we receive, the crown should be hidden in Eastern Europe."

"So that narrows down the research," said Hermione. "Though Eastern Europe is still large."

"Let's just hope we will receive more information as soon as possible."

Hermione nodded.

"If possible, let me and Ma-, and Tom help you out," said Hermione.

Phelp's eyes glistened and gasped,

"That's great! More people, more assistance."

Hermione picked a book from the shelf and started reading, then she asked,

"Are King Nikoloz and Queen Tania always like this?"

"Like what?"

"So indifferent," she explained. "As if they do not like each other as much as people think."

"It's a long story," said Phelps and he let out a long slow sigh. "And being their assistant, I-"

"I understand," said Hermione quickly. "Secrets that must be kept, especially when you are working for the royal family."

"So what's your occupation?" asked Phelps. "I guess you don't have to lie to me anymore."

Hermione gazed at his clear blue eyes. They were alluring, and she felt her conscience slowly drifting away as she continued staring.

"Miss Watson?"

His voice snapped her back to reality and she said,

"I...work in Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office."

"So how does King Nikoloz know you?" he asked, appeared baffled. "Has he been to your Office?"

"He contacted our Office years ago for a bewitched necklace being sold accidentally," said Hermione, trying her best to come up with a reasonable tale. "I was in charge at that time."

Phelps smiled, it was the most dazzling smile she had ever seen, it was a smile that could melt an ice cube and a smile that could warm a cold heart. Unlike Malfoy, Phelps was forever polite and friendly, he never interrupts her speech and conversations were always pleasant. If only he worked in the Ministry too...

"Have you read this books before?"

His voice snapped her back to reality again, and she examined the book in his hands.

"To Kill an Augurey..." muttered Hermione. "Sounds familiar, but no, I haven't read that before."

"Perhaps you should add this in your book list," suggested Phelps and he conjured a carton box. Gently, he placed the book inside and asked,

"Have you read the book 'Catch me if you Can'?"

"I have, it's good," answered Hermione as she stuffed a few more books into the box. "Abagnale is such an evil genius, It's hard to believe that it happens in real life. Imagine starting imposition at the age of 16."

"Perhaps not as great as that," said Phelps, laughing. "But it'd be exciting."

It was an enjoyable chat and Hermione almost did not notice that the box was crammed and could not accommodate more books.

"Well, I guess that's it!" said Hermione, satisfied.

After she paid the cashier sixteen Galleons, they headed out to the Leaky Cauldron, with her box levitating in the air.

"Thought I could be a genuine gentleman for tonight," said Phelps. "I can really use my muscles to help you."

Hermione tittered.

"It's alright, you are still a gentleman," she said.

As they entered Leaky Cauldron, they settled down at the corner of the inn and Hermione scanned through the menu.

"Toad in the hole sounds nice," said Phelps. "The menu has really changed a lot."

"And I will just have soup and salad," said Hermione.

A waiter came and wrote down their orders, then said,

"Three Galleons and thirteen Sickles."

"I thought you pay after dining?" asked Hermione, confused.

"Not anymore," replied the waiter. "That's the rule now, ask the Longbottoms if you want to know why."

"Oh, how can I forget!" exclaimed Hermione. "Are they here now?"

"Out for some adventures, I guess," answered the waiter. "They always go back to Hogwarts' kitchen to get more recipes."

The waiter hurried away and Phelps asked,

"So which house were you in?"

"Gryffindor," she said. "Though the Sorting Hat has considered placing me in Ravenclaw."

"I'm a Ravenclaw," said Phelps, grinning. "I won't be a surprise if Ravenclaw was your consideration."

The waiter came back with three large bowls.

"Pea soup again," said Phelps as he stared into the green swirling liquid. "Looks like it's still the same all these years."

By the time the clock stuck ten, they had finished dining and chatted for a very long time.

"I have to go," said Hermione, looking at her box. "At least I need time to place those books on my shelves."

They got up and Phelps said,

"It's a pity that we aren't in Georgia, I could take you to the Enguri River and enjoy the fresh air there."

"Perhaps next time!"

As she looked back at Phelps, his eyes were just as clear as the water under moonlight, shimmering and dazzling, captivating her mind. She knew she should not stare at a man's eyes for that long, but it was just irresistible.

"Indeed," said Phelps, smiling. "We will have that day."

Cold breeze glided pass, bringing back her sense. She took a deep breath and apparated after bidding farewell to Phelps.

She was back in the manor, the place was ominously quiet, sending her a chill down the spine. Faint whimpers echoed and it made Hermione even nervous. Had Malfoy been mistreating the house elves because of his anger?

Slowly, she put down her box and hurried to the kitchen, only finding the two house elves sobbing, with their hand bandaged.

"What happened?" she yelled, shocked at the sight of the two shivering house elves.

Push and Pull turned around, their eyes were watered and their pillowcases were soaked.

"Master is upset," said Push. "Push and Pull had to punish it-selves. Push and Pull had to iron the hands."

"But it isn't your fault," said Hermione and she knelt down. "You don't have to punish yourselves."

"Master is upset, and Push and Pull should be punished for that!"

Seeing that the house elves were not convinced to stop self-punishment, she quickly switched the topic.

"Where's he?"

"Upstairs in his room, Madame," answered Pull. "Bad Push! Bad Pull!"

"It's fine, just heal yourselves."

"Will Madame be able to make Master happy again?"

"Well, he'll be fine tomorrow," said Hermione and then whispered, "I guess."

Push and Pull rubbed their noses with their pillowcases and said,

"Push and Pull had to clean up the mess."

Hermione got up her feet and went upstairs. She could feel the eerie atmosphere getting stronger as she headed to Malfoy's room.

She knocked on the door, but nobody answered, so she entered, the room was dark and hollow, no signs of Malfoy could be seen.

"Malfoy!" she yelled.

Nobody answered, as though Malfoy was not in the room. She searched around, even checking the closet, clearly Malfoy was not here.

 _Perhaps he went to her room_ , she thought.

Her room was just as still as Malfoy's room. She put down her satchel and looked around.

 _Perhaps he just went out the garden_ , she thought.

So she grabbed her nightgown and took a bath. Bath could always clear her mind and help her reorganize her thoughts. Warm water could always help her relax and the scent of cape jasmine could always ensure her high quality sleep.

As she noticed her fingertips were badly wrinkled, she got out of the tub and wore her gown. She got out of the bathroom and went to the window, looking at the navy blue sky. The moment when she turned around, a dark figure shadowed her. She gasped and soon she recognized the figure.

"Malfoy?"

"Enjoyed yourself tonight?" he asked. His voice was sloppy and a strong scent of wine shrouded her. He was only wearing his boxers, as if he had just finished bathing.

"You alright?" asked Hermione, shuddering.

"Do you think I'm alright?"

After an awkward moment of silence, suddenly he lifted her up and dumped her onto bed, before she could sit up, Malfoy was on top of her, clutching her arms.

"Do you know how hard I have been trying?" he whispered into her ear.

"Trying what?" asked Hermione, shivering.

"I tried to have a decent dinner with you," he said. "Hoping that you would hate me less, but I was wrong."

"Get off me!"

Malfoy scoffed.

"You think I don't know?" he gritted through his teeth. "Trying to get laid in Phelp's bed, aren't you?"

"You get me wrong!" exclaimed Hermione. "I was just-"

Before she could finish her sentence, his lips crashed upon hers. Her gasp created a chance for his tongue to slide in, as if trying to suck out her breath. She could still taste the red wine and her tongue was paralyzed. Then she could feel warmth swirling on her abdomen, her gown was torn apart and Malfoy's abdomen was lying upon hers.

Her underwear was gone, and so was his. Having no experience, she was scared, petrified by his touch. His fingers glided pass her collarbone and she tried to wriggle her way out, only finding his grasp forbade her to make a move. She tried to kick him but his thighs pinned hers hard. She bit his tongue, hoping that it would stop him.

Malfoy was shocked, but immediately his hands clutched her wrists tighter.

"Too late," he annunciated, grinning.

Immediately, she felt immense pain and Malfoy's tongue intruded deeper. She struggled for breath but it only made his tongue going further and further. Energy drained from her body and the last thing she knew, was the his groan of pleasure and his body collapsed on top of her...

* * *

 **Writing this chapter in the middle of the night was not a great idea, but writing such content in broad daylight is even worse.**


	10. Chapter 9 Apology with Sincerity

DM'S POV

After a whole night of sweat, he slept until sun shone through the curtains. Granger was still asleep beside him, her body rose and fell along with her long slow breath. The fragrance of cape jasmine still lingered and it soothed his mind.

Her skin was smooth like velvet and her hair was sleek like otter's fur. He remembered how her hair used to be like, bushy like a broom, but it did not matter much.

Last night's memory still lingered in his mind, as if he was in a Pensieve. Her body curves were right in spot and her melodious voice echoed, her full lips were nimble to his and her waist wriggled as his lips glided to her collarbone. Her chest was soft and every time he stroked against her chest, she would moan, twisted and turned, softly giggling.

Still he felt his impulse being extremely barbaric, entirely ignoring her will.

 _But she enjoyed it_ , he thought. She enjoyed it, _she wouldn't hate him, perhaps?_

The weight shift in bed suggested that she finally woke up. He sat up and admire her body, then her face. Her eyelashes flickered and slowly her eyes opened, gazing at the windows, then to him.

"Good morning," mumbled Draco, still finding it awkward to properly greet her.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Realizing herself not wearing any clothes, she hurriedly clutched the quilt and pulled up to her head, hiding her face under it. Then she growled,

"Can you stop staring?"

Her tone was filled with anger and annoyance, and her body started slightly shifting to the edge of the bed. Knowing that her temper might turned terrible in any second, he was careful with his choice of word, he said,

"I'm sorry."

After an awkward moment of silence, she said,

"Sorry for what?"

"For...not respecting you."

It was another uncomfortable quietude. Then she grumbled,

"What's the point of apologizing? Can you recompense for what we have done?"

Draco did not know how to answer. After searching for the appropriate words in his mind, he whispered,

"I just hope you won't...hate me."

"Hate you? Do you deserve my hated?"

This made him even speechless and unable to think of anything that could lighten the aloof and bitter atmosphere.

"You won't file a complaint against me at the Winzegamot, will you?"

Hermione finally showed her head, her face turned to him, and hissed,

"File what complaint? Ravishment?"

Draco licked his lips and scratched the back of his head, trying to sort out his thoughts.

"Do you filing a complaint of ravishment against Malfoy is feasible?" she snapped and she stood up, shrouded her body with the quilt. "It's just a blatant waste of time!'"

She stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door, leaving Malfoy naked on the large bed. He scratched his head again, wondering how to reconcile with her.

 _She enjoyed it!_ He thought. _It was not really forced!_

And now she hid herself in the bathroom, unwilling to come out and face him again.

 _Damn, need to use the other bathroom again_ , he thought.

"Accio!" he commanded as he got hold of his wand.

His underwear shot up to his face and he wore it, it did not feel comfortable, yet he made no complaint, so he came out of the room and he jumped as he looked down.

"What are you two doing here?" he roared.

Push and Pull gazed at him with admiration and pride, then they said,

"Master can give this to Madame!"

They offered a glass of warm milk to Draco. He got hold of the glass and stared at the creamy liquid, the smell was just like the scent of her body.

Looking at the elves' large popping eyes, he nodded and went inside the room, placing the glass on the table and cast a charm to keep it warm. Thinking that she might not drink it (which would upset every living in the household), he tore a bit or parchment and wrote,

Please forgive me.

* * *

"You look vexed," said Zabini, who came by Draco's office during lunch hours. "Granger got you tired last night?"

"If things go smooth like what you expect, I would not be here, looking like a stupid house elf trying to refrain itself from self-punishment," replied Draco as he finished his bite of sandwich.

Zabini sniggered and said,

"Wow, sounds like a long story."

"Consider yourself lucky," spat Draco. "I'm telling you, getting Greengrass laid is one of the world's easiest job."

"I won't deny that," said Zabini, grinning. "She's _good_."

Draco grunted and Zabini asked,

"Alright, so what happened?"

"I prepared a lavish banquet, trying to bury the hatchet," answered Draco. "Then she just went out and dated another man!"

"Well, according to law, she is not prohibited from doing that-"

"Just let me finish my tale!"

"Lips sealed."

Draco snorted and continued,

"And I drank too much, my head just got dizzy and somehow my consciousness was lost."

"You mean your conscience, right?" asked his old friend, chuckling.

"Consciousness," growled Draco.

"So what happened then?"

"She came back and I sort of lost control of myself, then we...ended up in bed."

"Not bad," commented Zabini.

"Well, that's where the bad thing began," said Draco. "Actually, I forced her into doing it in first place but she seemed to enjoy it after a while."

"I can't say if that's true, considering that I am not Granger," said Zabini, trying to understand his old friend's problem. "So what did she do this morning? Yelled at you and kicked you in the groin?"

"The opposite of that," replied Draco. "She just acted all calm and rushed into the bathroom."

"She didn't say anything?"

"She did, but I can conclude that it's all about her abhorrence towards me."

"Oh, sounds bad for playboy Malfoy."

"Shut up!" snapped Draco. "I am not that much of a slippery fellow."

"Whatever," said Zabini. "Come to think of it, I think she's just confused and unable to accept the truth."

"What truth?"

"Giving her first to you," replied Zabini. "Unless this is not her first."

"The problem is, that man she went to is a suspect, we all think he's guilty but she always denies this!"

"And who's that lucky man who captured the know-it-all's heart?"

"Phelps, Adrian Phelps."

"Oh he!" exclaimed Zabini. "Well you must admit, he's attractive, even though people always say I am the ultimate one."

"Shut up!" said Draco, annoyed.

"I'm just informing you of the truth!"

"Forget it."

"Anyway, I still think she's just too shocked by the fact that she got laid by you."

"Oh really?"

"Come on, she's not those girls who is always ready to make love with you, my friend."

"Now I really don't know what I am supposed to do."

Zabini looked outside, staring at Granger's seat.

"Let's hope you don't have to wait too long," he said, then glanced at the clock and went to the door.

"Alright, just go," said Draco.

"Floo me when you need my help, but my service is restricted for weekdays' daytime, understand?"

He winked and got out of the Office. Draco sat back, pondering over his old friend's words, was she merely too astonished and all she needed was time to swallow the fact that they finally consummated?

A knock rang at the door and it surprised him. But the person visiting surprised him further.

"Look, I have no other intention but to care for a friend," said the Weasley girl. "But I think we need a talk."

"And since when you become the spokesperson of the friend of yours?" asked Draco, trying to keep his attitude as nonchalant as possible.

"I don't expect to convert yourself and fit in the shoes of Hermione. But do you have any ideas on her feelings?"

"You've just said, I can't fit into her shoes."

"She's confused, Malfoy, confused."

"Never thought she'd have the state of confusion one day."

"Listen," snapped Ginny, getting annoyed by the fact that he did not seem to care. "Hermione just talked to me. She said you forced her, was I correct?"

"Well, she enjoyed it, her body was honest."

"I am not going argue on that. But she mentioned you tried to make peace, is that correct?"

"That's what she said and that's the truth."

"The truth is, she does not know what you are up to!"

"You don't say."

"So what are you up to?"

"Can't you stop beating about bushes? A man's time for meditation is important!"

"Alright, let me make it straight and clear," said Ginny, trying her best to make her explanation as simple as she could. "Hermione feels a bit guilty for going out and leaving you seriously drunk. Yet another part of her mind tells her you never actually want to reconcile, you get her laid simply because it was a need to soothe your body. You are not doing this because you love her."

"Definitely, her brain is not functioning properly," said Draco, curling his lips.

"Whether or not her brain is functioning properly is not your concern. The only thing that you should be thinking about is how to make up for your act."

"So what's your suggestion?"

"It's for me to know and you to find out."

She stood up and left. It made Draco even troubled. How would be expected to know the mind of his wife? He had never been a despised Muggle-born, and girls never refused his casual declaration of love despite of the fact that they were nothing but fake promises.

How he wished he did not get drunk last night, perhaps he could hold his temper and maintain consciousness, then things would not become so problematic. But the mistake was made, and he needed to solve it, now.

Granger was back in the office as lunch time was over, she looked as normal as before, as though nothing had happened. Her left hand flipped through the pages of different files and her right hand kept on scribbling across pieces of parchment. Should he ask her to come inside just to hear his explanation? She was no fool, a word inappropriately used and he could prepare himself a resting place at the manor's garden.

After the tormented psychological struggle, he went to open his door, and said,

"Gra-Hermione, come to my office five minutes later."

She definitely looked shocked, but he dared not stare at her for too long, for he knew what she was capable of.

He tried to prepare himself some sentences. He knew he had to ask for her forgiveness, but the word kept stuck in his throat like a lump.

Exactly five minutes later, she knocked at the door and came in.

"How shall I help you, Mr. Malfoy?"

Her tone was cold like stone, it was just what he had imagined, nonchalant, and almost apathetic. He flicked his wand and locked the door. Noticing that, her bleak voice rang,

"Is that all you've got? Locking people in office."

Draco stood up and walked towards her.

"Did you see my note?"

"And do I have to answer that?"

"Look! I don't mean to force you, I was drunk! I didn't know what I was really doing-"

"Yet you were sober, sober enough to only care about yourself."

Draco flushed as he recalled the memories, though it was not very vivid, he could remember her moans and how her body reacted.

"I don't just care about myself."

"And who is that lucky person that can drift within your harbour of concern?"

"Would you believe that this lucky person is you?"

She raised her brow, staring into his eyes. He tried to show his sincerity and passion, yet her indifference still stood strong.

"How odd," she said. "I am not convinced."

He walked nearer and nearer to her, and before she could take a few steps backward, he locked her in his arms and his head rested on her shoulder.

"Would you... forgive me, Hermione?" he whispered to her ears. "Please."

He finally could say it, it felt strange, the lump was gone yet his heart was heavier.

But she did not seem to be touched. She said,

"Forgive? It is certainly a miracle that Malfoy actually knows how to ask for forgiveness."

His embrace tightened, hoping that she would be understand.

"Please, Hermione, forgive me," he said. "I never mean to hurt you."

She said nothing, so he went on,

"I knew you don't like me, but I really want to put aside our past and move on."

She seemed to be in deep thoughts, and he backed a little, staring straight into her clear eyes.

"I just want you to be happy."

His head tilted and his lips pressed on hers, it was desperate yet tender. Slowly, she responded, and soon the kiss turned a thirst of each other. He gently lay his tongue in her mouth and the kiss went deeper. And before he could imagine, his weight made her fell on the couch. His palm supported her head and his arm had her waist wrapped. How much he wanted her, but upon remembering his words just now, he broke the kiss and asked,

"Will you forgive me?"

Hermione gave a swift peck on his lips.

"A chance ought to be given, as a reward for one's sincerity."

Draco could not believe she was smiling. Out of surprise and excitement, he quickly dived in for another kiss, this time it was passionate with care, and she gave an immediate respond.

A knock on the door broke their kiss and he instantly pulled her up, brushing her hair until it was tidy. Her face was hot and red.

"Come in," he announced.

Turner and Morgan came in with a heap of files in their arms.

"Here's a bunch more, Harry and Weasley got them from some wizard beings yesterday. Harry says some useful information may be hidden within the parchments."

Draco cast a glance at Hermione, then they sat down and began their investigation.

* * *

 **Do you think things will turn better or worse?**

 **A small reminder is that this is a humour+romance story, darkness is limited and so certain plot development can be easily guessed.**

 **Do you truly believe that I would make ravishment so easily forgiven?**

 **And if you like such mushy scenes,**

 **Too bad it is not going to happen until some time later.**

 **When? That depends whether I want to include them in the next chapter.**

 **Do you think I sound like those writers who love spoiling all the fun? (Yes, I do.)**

 **PS. Tutoring children is always a hard but rewarding work. (This line serves no function at this point but to express my own feelings for these few weeks.)**


	11. Chapter 10 Verlassenes Schloss

**While everyone was still feeling terrible for Hermione forgiving Malfoy and really wished to have him reported, our female protagonist here decides (actually, I decide) to give all readers a bumpy rollar coaster. It seemed that many readers do not have the extreme patience to wait for Hermione's explanation.**

* * *

HG'S POV

She knew it was too generous of her to accept his apology without giving him silent treatment, she was not even sure if he was truly apologetic. But Ginny's words made her realize "acceptance of apology" would be necessary.

 _"Everyone's been like this once in their life," explained Ginny. "He's just too upset."_

 _"Are you telling me that one can do anything he wants if one's just too upset?" snapped Hermione, stressing on the last three words._

 _Harry was out for work and Ginny was the only being in the house, which made Hermione relaxed, she did not want Harry to get revenge for her. It would only bring her more trouble and it would not facilitate her investigation. Phelps would hear this easily, it was not unheard that Harry could cause worldwide known disasters._

 _"Come on, you know what I mean," replied Ginny, then wore a small grin. "And actually he helped you."_

 _"Helped?"_

 _"The Ministry is not going to bother you again, unless they feel that you must have children."_

 _"Apart from that, I cannot think of anything that makes his behaviour tolerable and_ _excusable_ _."_

 _"You get the point."_

 _"While I was in the bathroom, I was so tempted to file a complaint against him."_

 _"Your records of finding loopholes and drifting by the border of law breaching are going to be the problem."_

 _"You don't say."_

 _"Didn't you sneak into Yaxley's house and get evidence without a search warrant? And do you remember nearly setting fire on Ulfric Flander's house just to smoke him out?"_

 _"The law didn't say I cannot do that, according to-"_

 _"Forget filing complaints, it won't work, I assure you. Malfoy still has his reputation of being a law-bidding wizard," explained Ginny. "And I must admit, even I hate so,"_

 _"Well, just pretend that you forgive him!" exclaimed Ginny._

 _"Pretend?" asked Hermione, with a huge wave of curiosity overflowing. "Now that's another story."_

 _Ginny showed a cheeky grin._

 _"You know what I'm thinking?" asked Ginny as her grin grew wider._

 _"Then I would need your help," said Hermione. "To order to make things as convincing as can be."_

 _"Go ahead."_

 _"I need you to go talk to him during his lunch hours," explained Hermione, trying to catch up with the exploding thoughts in her mind. "I know he would be staying in his Office. Just tell him that I'm confused and I like him or whatever you can come up with. Then he's going to get me into his Office, and I need to do is to act things out."_

 _"Sounds feasible," commented Ginny. "But are you sure everything will turn up just as you expect?"_

 _"For safety measures, I will get Luna talk to Zabini," said Hermione. "And he will go talk to him."_

 _"Luna knows her husband best."_

 _Hermione stood up and was about to apparate._

 _"Just one reminder," added Ginny. "No matter what he does, you must not shove him off or what, you have to make him believe that you truly forgive him!"_

 _"Needless to say twice," said Hermione, showing a small grin. "I have everything in mind."_

She could still feel the warmth on her lips and on her skin. He was a good kisser, if she put aside what happened last night. From his behaviour and the wide grin on his face, she was perfectly sure that he had fallen into her scheme, everything was going well according to plan.

Despite Hermione asking him to go home first, he insisted staying until she left the desk. She was annoyed, but considering that she needed him to believe her without doubts, she let him stay. Reading documents with his eyes staring at her face was tempting her to throw temper tantrums, and so she decided to go home, and she would have a few tranquil hours in her room.

"You want to come over to my room for tonight?" he mumbled, glancing at her eyes the moment when they apparated back to their manor. "You know, we can...have a chat before sleep."

"Draco, I'm really tired," answered Hermione, trying to keep her voice calm. "Good night."

She immediately left him and headed into her room. She could not believe that he actually asked her to go to his room! Did he not forget what happened on the very same bed? One thing that lightened her heart was that he believed everything she had said.

A small tap rang at the window and she hurried to it, only finding a small eagle-like bird tapping the window, with a letter in its claws. The moment as she opened the window, it dropped the letter in her hands and gracefully landed on her desk.

"A pallid harrier..." whispered Hermione.

Who would own a harrier as a carrier of message? It was not a native bird to Britain, it had to be from the Balkans or Caucasus. And as her mind searches through the two areas, she had an idea.

"გმადლობ (Thank you)," she said as her hand softly patted its head.

The harrier blinked and nudged her. She unsealed the letter and began to read,

 _Корона обнаружила. Встретьте в ремерe, Франкфурте, завтра в шесть_ _вечером_ _. (The crown is found. Let's meet at Römer, Frankfurt, tomorrow at nine at night.)_

* * *

Despite knowing that she should inform the Office, she decided to go alone. Dragging anyone into the business just because of a note from Phelps was a risky act, it could immediately get herself a fast pass to Winzengamot, this time as a law breaker.

But she also knew a phrase well, "nothing ventured, nothing gained", one could never possibly catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger's lair.

Dusk at Altstadt was breathtaking, surrounding by medieval buildings, a wave of nostalgia emerged. The facade of Römer was just like those churches at her old home. With a little research, she knew this building was the city hall of Frankfurt. The tall black doors and golden crests on the surface strongly reminded her of covenants. She tried to open but the door would not bulge, and just when she wanted to pull out her wand, warmth glided pass her voice and a low voice rang,

"Trying to barge in without a permit?"

Out of shock, she turned around and saw Phelps smiling at her. She quickly lowered her hand and whispered,

"I thought we are supposed to get in."

"I call you here just for convenience, our destination is in another area."

He clutched her hand and apparated to a garden. Tree branches stretched out like slender crooked fingers, sending a chill down to the spine.

"Where is this place?" whispered Hermione, slowly feeling her fingers numb and cold.

"Not important," he answered curtly.

Before she could raise more questions, he led her pass the hedges and through the pillars, arriving at the arcades.

"I receive news that the crown is hidden in this castle somewhere," said Phelps and flicked his wand, the tip glowed.

"Is your news reliable?"

"The informant owled me two days ago," said Phelps. "And you never know if you don't try."

Hermione nodded.

"Where should we start first?" asked Hermione, glancing sideways. "It's a castle, not any banks or school!"

"Well, we have to start from scratch, I'm afraid," replied Phelps. "But at least we know this is the place, and at least it is smaller than Hogwarts."

 _He was right_ , she thought. _Hogwarts was a lot bigger than this castle_.

"Lumos," whispered Hermione and the tip of her wand flickered.

The castle was in hostile silence, as if their arrival was not welcomed and the night activities were entirely disrupted.

"This castle was once used as a hospital specialising in child psychiatry," said Phelps. "Perhaps we might find some Poltergeists, if we are lucky enough."

Hermione chuckled darkly as the opened the door. Ghosts were never as hostile as Muggle had always imagined, unless they met Poltergeists that were just as troublesome as Peeves. But Peeves was not that much of a problem, at least The Weasley twins earned his respect and he usually obeyed Dumbldore and McGonagall's orders.

"How did your informant find this place?" asked Hermione as she and Phelps walked into the living room.

"He said he saw a man rushing towards this castle a few days ago," replied Phelps. "Anyway, let's go."

"Why didn't you call people to help the search ?" asked Hermione again. "I'm sure the Georgian Ministry would gladly send a group of Aurors for assistance."

Phelps chuckled, then showed a wry grin.

"That would not help me at all," explained Phelps. "The crown is too much of a temptation, even with Veritaserum, they'd readily get themselves the antidote, if not at least they know how to get away from telling the truth."

"You got the point."

"I can only depend on your now," said Phelps and he sighed.

Hermione blushed, the helplessness in his tone made her feel almost flattened. She felt he was not the type of person that would ask for assistance out of the blue. He seemed to be extremely desperate for this time, searching every inch of the carved wood panelled room before moving on to another.

"The crown won't be in the kitchen, right?" she asked.

"No, no point of putting the crown in such a place."

She walked further into the castle and arrived at another room, facing an ancient grand piano. It stood erect in the middle of the room, Hermione gazed at the bumpy white keys, then the writing engraved-Anton & Andrejs. She heard Phelps ask,

"You know how to play piano?"

"Yes, I do," she replied in a whisper, recalling her time teaching Ron her song.

They walked up the stony staircase and search each corner of every room but without avail. The curtains were strangely still intact, as if the owner had just moved out a month ago. She would have loved to visit this castle at broad daylight but nighttime only made the atmosphere eerie.

They finally went into the deepest chamber of the castle and Hermione began searching the cabinets. Just when Phelps opened a drawer, blinding lights shot out and a voice rang,

 _Heir of Georgia, as foretold,_

 _The time has already come._

"What was that?" exclaimed Phelps, shocked.

 _Long have two eyes, one light and one dark,_

 _Equally powerful granted by one._

 _The eye will strike when time comes._

 _Beware, the heir of Georgia._

The blinding light disappeared within the blink of the eye and everything returned to silence, then a screech rang at the other side of the room.

"Who's there?" whispered Hermione, staring at Phelps.

"I was sure no one would come..."

They immediately headed to the other room and the moment they opened the leather padded door, they saw a familiar face, holding up a wand, levitating the crown.

"Draco!" exclaimed Hermione.

Malfoy was in his usual black suit, standing in front of them, looking both serious and astonished. As her eyes scanned all the way down to the hall, she was horrified. A pair of old couple in rags were down, more than petrified.

"What have you done!" yelled Hermione, kneeling down the two poor old couple. They were stiff and cold, eyes staring straight at the ceiling. The only word that almost burst out of her mouth-dead.

"What are you doing here?" asked Malfoy, slightly crossed.

"That should be a question of mine," replied Hermione.

Malfoy took out a note from his pocket and Hermione gasped with horror.

"You read my letter without permission!"

"And here I thought we are going to be honest to each other," said Malfoy. "Can you imagine how long it takes me to decode the message?"

"Look! I didn't want you to meddle into this search-"

"Oh really? I am not convinced."

"Just hand over the crown!"

"No!" shouted Malfoy. "You don't know if dark magic is employed! I am afraid we need to confiscate it."

"Please don't tell me you are coming for the crown."

"Don't mistaken me," said Malfoy calmly. "I'm here with Marcus and Cassandra."

"And where are they?"

"Marcus! Cassandra!"

No one answered, Malfoy looked distressed.

"Just hand over the crown!" yelled Hermione. "You unforgiving bastard!"

She lunged forward to the crown, Malfoy quickly dodged her attack and he apparated, along with the crown.

* * *

 **Can you guess which castle I am talking about? (Hint: Wikipedia won't help. The furniture would help a bit, though.)**

 **I apologize for the usually late update. A lot of life-changing events happened this week and it was too much for one to handle. I am fortunate enough to be offered places at universities in England but I really hope I can stay in my city.**

 **I have also come up with a few more plots on Harry Potter, but they needed to be refined.**

 **Until...the next update!**


	12. Chapter 11 Interlude

DM's POV

Waiting outside the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects, his thoughts were racing above clouds. He surely wished his bet would pay off, after all, she was not that type of women who would surrender to force, she would never give in until the truth was revealed. The worst of all, she would not easily believe in truth unless it was revealed by someone she could trust.

 _What have you done, Draco,_ he thought. _You just reconciled with her and now you are pissing her off again._

She stormed into the aisle and leaned against the wall, standing exactly opposite to him, with her eyes glaring at the office door. Draco knew anger was boiling up in her, and possibly trying to withhold her impulse to strangle him. But he just could not withstand his wife falling into the pit deeper and deeper day by day.

A worker came out and said,

"Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy."

Hermione sniffed as she heard her title, still she walked towards the worker.

"The crown was cursed," said the worker.

"And what curse is that?" asked Draco.

"Disintegration curse," replied the worker.

"I know its power," answered Hermione. "Mrs. Weasley had used it once on Bellatrix Lestrange. It's said that the moment when the curse hits, the target fades into ashes."

"This curse is different from the ones we usually cast," said the worker. "It holds the power to obliterate everything within a mile, more than enough to pulverize the whole Ministry. It took ten of us and four hours to lift the curse. Whoever casts this curse, he or she must be in huge grudge."

Draco peered at Hermione, who was staring at the crown in the worker's hands.

"Well, this is for you," said the worker. "I still have a heap of work to do."

The worker handed over the crown to Hermione, then Draco began,

"See what I mean? I knew it was cursed."

"And no one ever knows if you are the one who curses it."

"What do you mean!" yelled Draco. "You think I would do such stupid things?"

"Stupid or not, I am going to return this crown to-"

"To Nikoloz, with me as your company."

"Do you not trust me?"

Draco could not give an immediate reply. Answering either would lead the situation to more arguments. That was not what he wanted, he had just reconciled with her, the risk of receiving her silent treatment was too much for him to bare.

"I told you," said Draco quietly."I trust you."

"And why should you insist on following me?"

"I just don't want you to fall into any trap set by those people!" exclaimed Malfoy. "I just want to protect you."

"How grateful," said Hermione in a sneering tone. "Am I to presume that you will follow me everywhere?"

"We're husband and wife," mumbled Draco. "I just don't want to lose you and start everything over again-"

"Alright, put that aside first," snapped Hermione. "You cursed the old couple."

"I didn't!"

"And clearly Morgan and Turner were not there with you! You lied!"

"I didn't! They were dead before I arrived at the room! I told Morgan and Turner to find the crown as a team."

"First, you read my letter without permission. Second, you lied about Morgan and Turner accompanying you. Third, you lied about not guilty for cursing the poor old couple."

"Look! I was just trying to protect you! Nothing else!"

"What you say might not be what you do," she replied. "We'd better get you a Veritaserum."

"We?"

"Yes, we. Harry and me."

She stormed out of the corridor, leaving Draco behind, scratching his head. Then he realized-

Hermione had been acting.

She had never truly forgiven him, not to mention trusting him, and he was baffled by the fact that she could trust Phelps that much. It was definitely not her usual self, she never trust anyone without thoroughly knowing their backgrounds. Facing Phelps, she appeared as if she had gobbled down a whole bottle of Love Potion. The way she looked at him was just too friendly, almost letting her guard down and allowing people to attack her at any moment.

But he did not blame her, it was him who started all these, she was partially a victim. If he had not signed the marriage papers just to shove off Pansy Parkinson, she would have a wonderful life with Weasley, if not wonderful at least it was better than the current situation.

"Draco!"

A female voice called and he turned around. Tali stood before him, saying,

"We need a talk."

He shrugged and led her to his office. The moment as he closed the door, Tali cast the Silence Charm and said,

"They're going to America."

"What?" exclaimed Malfoy. "Who?"

"Nikoloz!" she replied. "Tania and Adrian Phelps are going too."

"Why?"

"To a jewelry show. Tania insists on getting one, Adrian suggested going to America."

"Can you specify?" asked Draco. "You don't expect me to go across all states in one day, do you?"

"New York."

"Guess I will bring another assistant with me."

"Isn't your wife coming along?"

"Certainly I'd rather do it alone than with her tagging along."

"You two are having an argument?"

Draco scoffed.

"If it is simply an argument, I would not be frustrated."

"Would it be an offence if I go into details?"

"Forget it. Let's go back to business."

"The address is here," said Tali, quickly writing on the paper. "The show starts at eight. Nikoloz's life largely depends on your swift reaction."

"What about Tania?" asked Draco. "I mean, both of them are the VIPs."

"I believe Nikoloz will be the target of the night."

"Strange indeed."

"You don't say."

"Don't you think it's odd to go all the way to America just for a necklace?"

"That is out of our concern," said Tali. "Please protect Nikoloz."

"Nikoloz, it's always Nikoloz," said Draco, suddenly wore a grin. "Your concern over him is just too much for an assistant."

"He...he is in a vulnerable position, and he needs protection."

"Fine, I understand," said Draco.

She showed a wry smile and as she opened the door, Hermione was standing before her, staring at both of them.

"Mrs. Malfoy," said Tali, and after a nod, she went off.

Hermione came in, then said,

"Let's go together."

"Huh?"

"We are partners in this case, our personal affairs should not interfere the progress."

"Glad you see the point," mumbled Draco, not knowing how to continue the conversation.

* * *

 **I know it's truly my fault to delay the update and twist the plot into this stage.**


	13. Chapter 12 New York

**Warning: The following chapter contains certain content. If you cannot endure the sourness of a lemon, I can't help you. If your mind is sourer than a gooseberry, I hope you enjoy! :)**

 **P.S. Just scroll down to take a look my end-note if you don't want your eyesight ruined.**

* * *

HG's POV

New York.

Walking along the pavement with Malfoy on a snowy December morning was not one of her dreams.

It was out of her expectations that he could quietly walk with her without any complaint, as though he was enjoying himself, and apparently, she hated to see him so quiet and content. After all those happening and her pretentious reconciliation, how could he be calm as that?

Due to their exposure of identity, it was necessary to use spells for alteration of appearance for that night. She hated changing of appearance, she might have difficulty in recognising her peers. Morgan and Turner finally decided that their eyes would not be altered so that Hermione could recognise each other without trouble. After all, no one beside Tali would know them, right?

Noon came sooner than they thought and Morgan broke the silence by saying,

"Want some fries for lunch?"

"Why not?" said Malfoy, shrugging.

"Hope they sell fish and chips here," said Turner, chuckled. "And mushy peas too."

"I wish they have tartar sauce," said Morgan. "I hate tomato sauce."

"Come on," said Turner. "I know a restaurant that makes fish and chips, it's just around the corner. Perhaps we can have a try."

The two sprang along the pavement, leaving Hermione and Malfoy behind. She cast a glance at him, he did not seem to be brightened by the thought of having lunch, still he put on a wry smile and hurried catch up. Hermione could not understand what made him so quiet. A few days ago, he was still thriving and happy, even when he was waiting outside the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects, he talked to her.

"Two fish and chips with mushy peas and tartar sauce please!" rang Morgan's voice, pulling Hermione back to reality.

"Sorry, we don't have tartar sauce here, only ketchup."

"Aw, too bad."

"What type of fish do you want?"

"Haddock."

"Hermione, do you want fish and chips?" asked Morgan. "Draco, what about you?"

"Yeah, it's fine," answered Hermione.

"What about you, Draco?" asked Morgan. "Fish and chips too?"

"I'll take it," mumbled Draco.

"Four fish and chips please," said Morgan, grinning at the cashier. "And coke for everyone."

The cashier smiled at them and said,

"That would be $60. Here're four scratch tickets for you, prize ranged from enjoying one free large soda to free drinks at Push Up Bar."

Soon after Morgan handed over a few notes, the cashier gave them their trays of food and they settled down at the table by the window.

"Let me see what's the prize," said Morgan and her nails peeled off the scratch part of the ticket.

"Oh, 'better luck next time'," she read, slightly upset. "Though I was going to get a free soda."

"Looks like both of us have bad luck," said Turner and turned to Malfoy. "What about yours?"

"Free drink at the bar."

"Mine too," said Hermione quietly, not quite interested.

"You two are lucky," said Morgan.

"It's nice," said Turner as he munched the fries after discarding the ticket. "Although it's not as good as the ones back in England."

Hermione did not listen further, she gazed at the sniw outside. Why was she cold even when she wearing enough clothes and stayed indoors?

She could almost see a large familiar house in distance. Whose house was that? She could not answer. She could see herself inside, looking out at the window, smiling.

"Hermione!" yelled Turner.

It pulled her back to reality. Her eyes fixed on Turner, then Morgan and Malfoy, who looked at her with hesitation.

"Are you alright?" asked Turner.

I'm fine," replied Hermione and immediately added when she saw their frowns. "I was just thinking it's a pity to work at Christmas."

"You know we have no rest when it comes to cases."

"Does Tali knows about our arrangement?" asked Morgan as she dipped her fries into ketchup.

"I have informed her, she agrees and allows us to disguise as guards."

"That's going to be challenging," pointed out Morgan. "You know usually criminals disguise themselves as guards just to get away from suspicion."

"It's a pity that our wooden friends would not go on stage that night," said Turner.

"Let's make a guess, what would Phelps do?"

"Spike drinks or food?" suggested Turner.

"Reasonable," replied Morgan.

"What about you, Draco?" asked Turner. "Care to make a guess?"

Draco shrugged and said,

"Perhaps he'd use Felix Felicis and get away-"

"No, he wouldn't!"

Morgan's abrupt answers took every aback, then she blushed and said,

"Well, I think he is confident in himself, he would not need Felix Felicis anyway."

"You got a point," added Turner quickly. "From his usual behaviour, I doubt if he would not trust his own intelligence and use other things to help him."

"Hermione, you have anything to say?"

Hermione cast glances at everyone, then she shook her head.

"I thought you would have something to say," said Morgan, slightly disappointed by Hermione's nonchalance. "You are the brainy one, so you must have at least some ideas and able to come up with a prediction."

Hermione was not interested, she was too much engaged in profound thoughts. Whenever her mind started drifting off to her little space of meditation, the first thing that came to her mind would be Malfoy. She tried to focus on the case and Phelps but she could not. She hated herself for putting emotions before work, which rarely happened before the marriage. Those old friends from Wizengamot often commented that she was a bright witch who could put aside emotions the second she started working.

"Hermione, are you feeling ill?" asked Morgan and Hermione looked at Morgan, shaking her head.

"Your fish and chips are getting cold," said Turner.

She stared down at her tray, it was supposed to be delicious and the smell of fried haddock should always captivate her, but why did she not like it? Just staring at it, she could almost sense her stomach writhing.

The lunch ended with Hermione said she did not feel well and wished to take some rest. The team had to go back to the hotel just to ensure her health would be in perfect condition before that night.

Lying on bed, she could see Malfoy sitting on the chaise lounge with his eyes closed. Was he thinking something? She could not tell, and it reminded her much of that night...

When she opened her eyes again, night had fallen and Malfoy was nowhere to be seen.

 _Probably he had gone out flirting girls again_ , she thought.

Quickly, she got out of bed and left hotel room. She did not have any appetite for dinner, all she wanted was a long deep sleep, and only alcohol could help. A little bit of alcohol on the lips could easily send her to the deep dark pit where she could rest without worries.

The moment she entered the bar, she choose a seat at the corner. A waiter came and asked,

"May I help you, Miss?"

She handed the ticket to the waiter. Immediately, the waiter bowed and hurried off, then came back with a whiskey on the rocks.

Just as her fingers reached the glass, a hand swarmed into view and shifted the glass away.

"You know you should not drink whiskey when you are not feeling well," said Malfoy and he sat down.

"I thought you never cared," whispered Hermione, worn out much.

"Some pills and water for you," said Malfoy, flushing as he placed packs of tablets and a bottle of water on the table. "I don't really know which one you need..."

"It's alright, I am not that ill."

He took her glass, watching the ice swirling in the whiskey, then gobbled it.

"You act different," pointed out Hermione. "You aren't acting like before."

"You are the one that has changed," said Malfoy. "The Hermione that I know is never in confusion and always knows what is best for her and those she cares."

"Time has changed everything, has it not?"

"Sometimes I wish I knew what was in your head."

Hermione did not answer.

"Were you...still angry...at me?"

"What is your guess?"

Malfoy did not answer, he got up and went to the bar, then came back with a glass of warm milk.

"Drink it," said Malfoy. "You will feel better."

Hermione drank the whole glass, then said,

"Why are you be so good to me?"

"I am your husband. If I am not good to you, who's going to be good to you?"

"I told myself to hate you, and now you are so...nice."

Malfoy smiled and reached out his hand, grabbing hers tightly. It was warm, and she could feel a strange feeling stirring inside her.

"But then you never say anything to me, not even a word of affection," argued Hermione, trying to reason.

"You're forgetting yourself, Granger," said Malfoy, grinning. "Since when does the brightest witch believe that words speaks louder than actions?"

"No! It's just that it seems you don't care-"

His grasp tightened.

"Not saying anything doesn't mean I don't care."

He shifted the bottle of water towards her and examined the tablets he bought.

"Let's see...this one is...allergy...stomachache...cold...I think the cold medicine will do. What's it called...A-ce-ta..."

"Acetaminophen," replied Hermione.

He stood up and sat beside her, then said,

"Open your mouth."

He cupped her chin and forced her open her mouth. Quickly, he slid in the pill into her mouth. Then, he carefully pour water into her mouth.

"I told you I'm fine!" said Hermione, her cheeks reddened under the dim lights.

His eyes flashed and gazed at hers, then she giggled,

"You look so funny."

"I'm serious!" yelled Malfoy, holding her tight.

"Your face is so red," said Hermione, chuckling, "Like a baboon."

Then Malfoy grinned and said,

"You're drunk."

The next second, she realised he had picked her up and apparated back to the hotel. Then, she could feel the soft bedding on her back. She wrapped her arms around Malfoy's neck, then gave a light kiss on his cheek.

"Let's get off this jacket," whispered Malfoy to her ears then withdrew.

Hermione could not take her eyes off. He unbuttoned the jacket, the shirt, then his trousers, and threw them on the chair. As he came back to the bed and held her body, she could feel her blood pumping up to her mind. His finger reached up and tenderly glided down her cheek to her chin. His eyes fervently gazed into hers and slowly, he leaned down and pressed his lips onto hers. It was demanding yet slow, unlike her first experience. It led her open her mouth and within the blink of an eye, his tongue came in, paralysing hers the moment they touched. Then, she noticed him slowly peeling off her and flung the clothes onto the floor.

His arms around her tightened and hauled her against his body, like a predator that had just caught his first prey. Then his hands glided down to her collarbone, then her hipbone, removing the last piece of clothing. She squirmed as her body exposed in coldness. Malfoy leaned forward and murmured,

"Keep still."

Her breath was ragged as he nibbled her collarbone. Then, he slammed into her and the pain made her wriggle. After a groan, he whispered,

"You alright?"

Hermione took a deep breath and kissed him, the moment he gasped and opened his mouth, she took her opportunity to explore. He seemed stunned by her passion, but then he immediately answered her with a more demanding kiss while keeping themselves riding in the waves of pleasure. The rhythm made her pant, trying to regain her breath while having his lips sealed on hers. His sweat dripped onto her body and her claws desperately slid through his hair.

The night seemed longer than ever, with his last groan, he collapsed onto her, both taking deep breath. His breath rang by her ears and he whispered,

"How was I?"

"...What answer do you expect?"

"Want another round?"

Hermione giggled.

"Aren't you tired?"

"I never get tired of you."

Hermione laughed and replied with a kiss on his cheek, then said,

"How many hours has it been?"

"Lost count. Probably it's past midnight now."

"I don't mind if you don't need sleep, but I surely need some rest."

Malfoy grinned and fell back beside her, not for long, his long slow breath echoed through the room...

* * *

 **There's a shop in Manhattan that has fish (without chips, I think). It's called A Salt & Battery. I didn't really search online for this shop until the very end of this chapter. It was truly an coincidence... But if you are in New York and have dined in this shop, please tell me if the food is good (Well, it can't be bad).**

 **I have also drafted the first chapter for a Lumione story, which some of you might not like it that much, which is normal since not everyone likes Lumione and not every Dramione fans like Lumione (I have tried to "like" SeverusXHermione and VoldemortXHermione** **, but I still find those stories queer. I like LunaXMalfoy or LunaXHarry though, not sure why).**

 **Despite the strong encouragement from my mum, I didn't read The Cursed Child, and judging from the critiques, I believe I make a right choice (well, BellatrixXVoldermort is too mind-blowing.)**


	14. Chapter 13 The Opal Necklace

DM's POV

How he wished he had done it earlier, he would have a lot more quality time with his wife. Hermione stopped giving him silent treatment and she was back to her old self, reasonable yet bossy, which was exactly what he liked.

Morning passed quicker than they expected, Draco had already changed into his best suit. Soon as he turned around, the bathroom door knob buckled and out burst Hermione.

"Erm...Can you help me...on this?" asked Hermione, blushing as her hand wriggling at her back.

Draco smiled and walked to Hermione, twirled her around and found her fingers struggling at the zipper at her waist. His fingers pushed hers away and said,

"I thought we'd be fitter for these couple of days. You make me as though I have not worked hard enough"

"Just shut up and help me!" snapped Hermione.

Immediately, as the zipper went up, he wrapped his arms around her waist. It was not fat, he convinced himself, then Hermione yelled,

"Let go!"

"You seemed a little bit cuddlier," whispered Draco to her ear. "But not fat."

"If I am not forced to wake up due to hungry pang for every morning, I would not eat that much."

"That means I will have to work harder," said Draco, pushing her backwards to the bed.

"Hey, not now!" yelled Hermione, giggling as he nibbled her earlobe.

"Fine!" said Draco and sighed. "Looks like I have to stock up my energy until we go back home."

Hermione showed a wry smile, then went back to the bathroom. Draco came in and watched her as she raised her wand, slowly altering her appearance. First, the hair, then the face shape, then the nose...

He must admit, she was skilled in alteration of appearance. If he had not witnessed the whole process, he would have thought she was another woman. But then if one looked closely enough, her eyes revealed her lie.

"Now, your turn," said Hermione, grinning.

He stepped forward and said,

"I want you to do the honour."

"Me?"

Draco nodded.

"Aren't you afraid of me having your handsome face destroyed in my hands?"

"Well you're my wife, I look at no one but your lovely face."

"Alright, stand still," said Hermione, holding his face, then waved her wand.

Slowly, he could feel his nose grew and hair shortened. By the time he could feel her hand off his face and immediately he looked at himself at the mirror, he was shocked by his new altered appearance. It looked nothing like his old self, except for the eyes.

"What do you think?"

Draco grinned and said,

"Well, it's acceptable, but not as handsome as my old self."

Hermione chuckled at his narcissism and punched him on the chest, and his arms wrapped her tight. After a while, he said,

"Let's go."

They apparated to Turner and Morgan's room, and shocked upon their arrival. Curtains were drawn and and the room was hauntingly dark, as though night had fallen and here was one of those rooms in an abandoned hotel. Morgan and Turner were nowhere in sight, at least they could not sense the two's presence.

"Cassy?" asked Hermione, and Draco felt her clutch on his hand tightened.

Draco pulled out his wand and flicked, light sparked from the tip and illuminated the room. Lights lit up as the same time and sounds emitted from the television. Morgan and Turner were standing beside their beds, shifting their legs, looked almost frightened by their sudden arrival.

"What're you doing?" asked Draco, frowning, trying to interpret their peculiar behaviours.

"Nothing," replied Morgan curtly, then Turner added,

"We were just trying to calm down and think of every possibility."

Draco raised his brow, doubting their answers. But Hermione said,

"Come on! Time is running out."

"Erm...do I have to keep all your wands for safety measures?" asked Turner, peering into their eyes.

"No!" answered Draco without hesitation. "We cannot risk the crime slip out of our grasps."

Turner licked his lips and nodded, then offered a glass of water for Draco. He gulped and without further ado, they apparated to one of the rooms in the venue. Just when they opened the door, Tali popped out in the aisle and shrieked at the sight of the strangers' sudden arrival. Then, she cleared her throat and said,

"I do not seem to remember you, may I ask for your names?"

Hermione pulled her inside and said,

"It's us."

Tali's face brightened.

"Hermione! What happened to your face?"

"We can't just go around without changing our appearance," replied Draco. "The convict may recognise us."

Tali nodded and said,

"Nikoloz and Tania are at the hall. Tania says she wants to buy that opal necklace and now they are at the merchant's counter."

Draco nodded, then turned to Turner and Morgan.

"You two blend in, me and Hermione will be there."

Turner and Morgan first seemed worried, then nodded and hurried off. Tali led them to the hall and pointed to the left.

"See them?" whispered Tali and the duo nodded.

"Adrian is not with them," pointed out Hermione, noticing his unusual disappearance.

"He's at the time-out corner," said Tali then pointed at the far right. Phelps was standing erect, looked as though pondering over a serious issue.

"Draco, you keep an eye on her," said Hermione. "I am going with Tali."

Just when Hermione wanted to leave, Draco held her hand and looked into her eyes. Hermione seemed to understand his thoughts. She smiled and said,

"Everything will be fine."

"Just...be careful."

Hermione nodded and followed Tali to the Georgian royal couple. He could see the opal necklace glistening under the lights. Then he heard two ladies talking.

"Though the necklace is merely a prototype, it still looks geunine."

"I'm sure Queen Tania is going to go fetch it in a moment or two."

"Wait, I thought someone had bought it!"

"What?"

"Just an hour ago, I saw a man walked into the room."

"But just now I went there, the necklace is still safe and intact."

"Perhaps that man got lost, no big deal."

Draco could not help getting alarmed. If he was just a Muggle, he would not be so alert and would just ignore the conversation, but now his mind was racing and he could only come up with one possibility.

The cursed opal necklace.

He recalled the same event that happened years ago, the opal necklace was meant for Dumbledore and accidentally landed on the hands of Katie Bells, nearly claimed her life. At this stage, he could not hold himself any longer, he ran towards Nikoloz and Tania.

"This is going to be the best present I ever had," said Tania. "When you bring the real one to me, I would surely put it on without hesitation."

"Surely you should."

Draco licked his lips, if the opal necklace was cursed by that man, then Tania would be the first one touching it. He quickly went up and said,

"Your Highness, I would like to have a word with you."

Tania looked at her husband, then Tali and Hermione. She then said,

"Please be excused."

Tania followed Draco to a corner, and Draco immediately began,

"The necklace is cursed."

Tania appeared astonished, she said.

"I don't seem to see what you mean."

"I'm a wizard, and I just overheard a conversation mentioning a stranger entering the room where the necklace was in. It's highly doubted that the man touched the necklace."

Tania looked shocked and quickly said,

"Hurry and try to break the curse, then find the culprit behind. Mr. Hopkins said the room is the third one on the left of the fifth floor."

"Yes, Your Highness."

He bowed and hurried towards the room, but as soon as he went to the fifth floor, he saw Morgan and Turner, then a pain struck at his back and he knelt down, left hand clutching his waist.

"What's wrong?" asked Morgan, shocked.

"My back," gritted Draco through his teeth. "The necklace is cursed. Go get it and...do something."

Turner and Morgan nodded, as they made their first step, Turner's foot tripped Morgan and she fell down. Turner knelt down and said,

"Are you alright?"

"I don't think I can walk," mumbled Morgan.

"Damn it!" said Turner.

Just when Turner stood up and turned around, Hermione was already at the door, frowning at the sight of her teammates.

"What happened?"

"Draco got a sudden backpain and I twisted my ankle," reported Morgan.

"Nikoloz sent me to fetch the necklace for him since we cannot see your return," said Hermione. "Marcus, prop Morgan and Malfoy to the side, I will get the necklace first."

Draco had never been so alarmed, he tolerated the sharp pain and stood up, staggering towards the room as quickly as he could. The moment when Hermione's fingers were about to touch the necklace, Draco drew his wand and cast a spell at the necklace, causing a blinding explosion...

* * *

 **I tried to tell myself not to drift off to another writing plot but I failed since the plot is a lot more exciting than the last one about Lumione.**

 **I know this chapter is so poorly written...I apologise.**

 **Just a few more chapters and we will come to the ending...**

 **The next chapter is very likely to be the last update until late September. In mid-September, I would be flying to UK for studies and this is my first time to go overseas alone (not really, Mum insists coming with me but she will leave after ten days) So just hang around and see whether I can manage to upload a chapter then. It is very unlikely that I would abandon this (even though it's so flawed, which leads to loss of followers and...no reviews).**


	15. Chapter 14 Hospitalization

**I didn't realise the site has uploaded the wrong chapter...**

 **Before reading, I would like all readers to help me out a bit (even though you might not like this story).**

 **I cannot decide which story I should work on, so please take a few minutes to vote. It really helps a lot.**

 **A. An AU romance Lumione story. First three chapter drafted, the whole story is still in development (which means I don't even know if I can make the ending as great as imagined.) But it can be published at any time. It has a slow story flow, so some of you might not be interested.**

 **B. A little bit AU, romance/adventure story around Harry, Hermione, Draco and many others. I am still drafting the first chapter, the development of the story is completed though (I have the ending and all scenes drafted thoroughly). But I still need time to finish the first chapter. The story is quite gripping.**

* * *

HG's POV

The last thing she could remember was the explosion upon touching the necklace, her head was spinning and swirling in the darkness. Murmurs rang around her and no matter how hard she tried, her body was too heavy, every time when she wanted to lift her torso, it almost felt like her body was nailed on the floor, unable to get up.

Hours passed and finally she gained enough strength to wake her numb body. Just as she wanted to move, she heard someone speaking,

"What! How come I never know that?"

It was Draco's voice, it was filled with anger and frustration.

"It seems that Mrs. Malfoy is too preoccupied by her work and neglect her condition."

The conversation faded and Hermione regained her strengthm, slowly she opened her eyes. She was lying on a white bed, staring at the blank ceiling. She managed to sit up and examined the environment. She was in a ward of St. Mungo's, mostly likely on the fourth floor.

With much effort, finally she stood up and staggered to the door. The door was opened ajar and she could see Draco's back through the gap.

"Do you know how much I have been expecting this to happen?" yelled Draco, shaking the Healer violently.

Hermione was shocked to see him so furious, then she thought of his words, what was he expecting?

"Why didn't you try to save him! He was my child!"

"Mr. Malfoy, please calm down!" said the Healer. "Your baby was already stillborn the moment when Mrs. Malfoy was apparated to our ward. We have no choice, if we do not take the baby out in time, the mother would also be in mortal peril."

Hermione simply could not believe what she had just heard. She had a baby! Why could she not sense out her body was slightly different from normal? Then, reality hit her, she was worn out by the case and she did not even have time to stop and think if she had a possibility of pregnancy. If she had only been more careful...

Her loud thud on the floor alerted everyone. Draco rushed in and immediately propped Hermione back to her bed.

"Hermione..." began Draco as he placed her on the bed but Hermione said,

"I'm sorry."

Draco sat down and embraced her.

"It's my fault, I am the one to be blamed."

Morgan and Turner came in and Turner knelt down, then said,

"I apologize. If it had not been me tripping Cassy and injured her ankle, this would not have happened."

Tali rushed in and said,

"Are you feeling alright, Hermione?"

"I'm fine," replied Hermione.

Tali bit her lips, then continued,

"I have some bad news."

Everyone stared at her intently, hoping to catch every single word.

"I have received news that Adrian Phelp has gone to Ailama and Tania is missing."

Hermione sat up at instant and said,

"What?"

"That's what has happened this morning.," replied Tali. " Yesterday night we apparated back to our castle. Then in the morning, Tania is gone and we cannot find her anywhere. Then we are informed that Phelps is taking a few days off and he will be travelling to Ailama."

"Where is this Ailama?" asked Morgan.

"It's a mountain at the border of Georgia and Russia," answered Tali. "It is rumoured that our predeceased King has a secret chamber hidden in Ailama but he denied and claimed that he had never been to Ailama, not to mention building a chamber there."

Hermione struggled to stand up, but Draco pushed her back on the bed and said,

"Where are you going?"

"We have to go now," said Hermione.

"You stay here," ordered Draco. "You need more rest."

"But-"

"No buts!"

Draco nailed her on bed with his arm and Turner began,

"Draco's right. You need rest and fully healed before going anywhere."

Hermione let out a sigh and rested her body completely.

"So where should we start first?" asked Morgan. "We still don't know where Tania has gone."

"Did the media report her missing?" asked Draco.

"No," replied Tali. "We cover this up, but we cannot cover this forever."

"I have an idea," suggested Turner. "Me and Cassy will find Tania and you two follow Phelps to Ailama. After all, Draco is the final person-in-charge and Tali is the our client."

"It's time to put an end to this."

All agreed and without hesitation, they apparated, leaving Hermione alone in the ward.

Lying on bed, she kept on thinking about Draco, though she knew Draco was skilled in dueling and his sharp wits could help him escape from any dangerous situation., but deep in her heart buried a drift of fear, the fear of losing him.

Knocks rang on the door and Ginny came in with a bouquet of roses. Closing the door, she said,

"Hi."

Hermione smiled and Ginny placed the bouquet on the cuphoard, then sat down beside her.

'Feeling fine?" asked Ginny.

"Just a little tired, but over all, I feel just right."

"Take more rest, sequela of miscarriage can be very serious."

Hermione nodded.

"Where did Mal-Draco go?" asked Ginny.

"On a mission," replied Hermione.

"Mission! When you are in St. Mungo's and need care!"

"It's important."

"Not as important as you, even when he must go, at least he should leave his assistants with you."

"I can take care of myself," said Hermione. "Speaking of mission, where's Harry?"

Ginny showed a big grin.

"He's taking care of James back at Grimmauld," she said. "A day off for me."

"Harry is such a great father."

"Draco too. I can see a father in him."

Hermione sighed and murmured,

"If only..."

Ginny was alarmed, immediately she said,

"You don't have to blame yourself, it was an accident, nobody wanted that to happen."

A knock rang at the door and a stranger came in. He was neither a Healer nor a staff of St. Mungo's. The man said,

"A letter for Mrs. Malfoy."

Hermione was puzzled. Who would send her a letter out of sudden, and usually mails were delivered by owls, not postmen like in the Muggle world. Still, she received the letter and the man quickly bounced out of the room, as if he was in a hurry.

"Strange," commented Ginny. "I thought letters are delivered by owls."

"Perhaps someone gave him the letter and he did not have time to get an owl."

She tore off the red seal and took out the letter. It was written in strange handwriting which she was not able to recognise.

 _Your husband is so eager to get me, however I am at the entrance of St. Mungo's._

Hermione was shocked. How could someone know this? It only happened a few minutes ago, just before Ginny's arrival.

"What's wrong?" asked Ginny, sensing her astonishment.

Hermione did not answer, she did not want to alert anyone. So she cleared her throat and said,

"Nothing. Just a letter from the Ministry, not a big deal."

Ginny frowned, not quite convinced by her words. Hermione licked her lips and got up, said,

"I'm going to the lavatory."

With Ginny's prop, she got up and headed to the washroom. She desperately needed a plan to flee from Ginny's watch. But how?

Just as they reached the washroom, Ginny said,

"I will wait for you here."

Hermione nodded, the moment when Ginny turned around, she drew her wand and whispered,

"Stupefy!"

Ginny immediately fell on the floor, knocked out. Hermione bent down and mumbled,

"Obliviate."

She pulled Ginny to a corner and said,

"I'm sorry, Ginny."

She changed her dress and just when she wanted to apparate to the entrance of St. Mungo's, a dark shadow covered her and a blow hit her head so hard that she fell into an endless pit of darkness...

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 **Looks like I work more efficiently than I imagine.**

 **Why do I have the feeling that nobody votes? Hopefully I am wrong.**


	16. Chapter 15 Dilemma at Ailama

**I deeply apologise for the chaos caused in the previous chapter, some of you might have missed the right chapter so you might want to check it out before this.**

 **Please help me out by voting. Thank you!**

 **Fun fact: I checked the fiction hunt website for my story after re-uploading the right chapter, I noticed that it was still the wrong one at the site even after 2 days. I wonder what that means...**

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DM's POV

The second time visiting Georgia was even more critical than the first time. Back in those days, he had never expected himself climbing up mountains just to get Phelps, but now he was anxious, the sudden disappearance of Tania and Phelps were too coincidental, and the only possibility he could think of is Tania was kidnapped by Phelps. This seemed a bit too wild yet not without a reason. Nobody could explain why Phelps suddenly took days off and how on earth did Tania disappeared while each and every room had servants and guards protecting the lives of the royal couple.

"I hope we could find something useful here," grumbled Draco as he walked up the steep path. "It would be a waste of energy and time to come here and we go back empty-handed."

"I'm not sure about that," said Tali, getting so nervous that her fists were tight. "But at least we can try looking for the secret chamber."

Draco could not continue the conversation, he was too occupied by the path ahead. It seemed almost endless and despite of the magnificent scenery, he did not have the mood for admiration. All he wanted was to reach the chamber or even a hut as soon as possible, though he knew chances were minimal. Then he thought of Hermione, guilt filled his heart the moment when he realised that she was left alone in the hospital. What if Phelps found her feeble and defenceless? He could not imagine what could happen then.

"Tali, I want to ask you something," said Draco. "Do you like the King?"

Tali blushed at his abrupt question, judging by her reaction, Draco knew he should not have asked such a thing at this moment. Just when he wanted to say something further, Tali answered in an extremely serious tone,

"Does that matter?"

"So do you like him?"

"It was...more than just like," replied Tali. "No words could express our feelings for each other."

Draco was puzzled, he asked,

"What do you mean?"

"I should have told you long time ago," said Tali. "And probably this explains why I care Nikoloz more than myself."

Draco raised his brow, expecting a story.

Tali sighed and began,

"We met at Tbilisi State University, he studied Chemistry and I studied Journalism. In Georgia, all witches and wizards attend university as a coverup. Almost every day, we would dine and have fun together, even when friends called upon us, we turned them down. At that time, nothing matter as long as I could stay by his side."

Draco nodded. He wished he and Hermione could be that close during their days in Hogwarts, then he did not have to waste so much time hating and learning to love each other.

"You must be very happy then."

Tali gave a wry smile, then a frown followed.

"Things changed when we graduated," she said. "His parents introduced a young beautiful girl to him. She was far beautiful, intelligent and calmer than anyone can ever imagine. She acted with elegance and sophistication, as though she was born to be a queen."

Draco understood it completely, the Shafiq family was one of the Sacred Twenty-Eights and Tania was the only daughter of the family, it was no surprise that she was raised in such a manner.

"Despite of his complaints, his parents made him marry the girl. And I became their assistant, just to remind myself of the sweet memories."

"But you are Tania's assistant."

"That was because Phelps was his assistant already, I had no more position but to take up this one."

"Don't you feel bad?"

Tali wore a weak grin.

"Bad? I have got used to it."

Her tone was so carefree that it sounded as if she had already given up the romance.

"To be honest," began Draco. "If I had not known you well, after this story of yours, I would have thought you were the one who plotted all these."

Tali darkly chuckled.

"You thought you know me well, but I could not even understand myself at all."

Draco smiled and soon a small wooden hut emerged from the horizon. It was the only building they had ever seen since apparation and they immediately decided that they should pay a visit and obtain more information if possible.

As they went nearer and nearer, a man emerged too, right at the door of the house. He was certainly not a hiker, judging by his casual clothing and lack of backpacks. It further shocked them as they went nearer. Phelps.

"Бабушка, это для тебя (Grandma, this is for you)," said Phelps, talking to the grey-haired old lady at the door.

The old lady received a basket from Phelps and she nodded in gratitude. Then Phelps turned and saw Draco walking towards him, followed by Tali, who was panting due to the vigorous walking.

"Mr. Malfoy, what brings you here?" asked Phelps, sounded surprised.

"What about you?"

"Me!" exclaimed Phelps. "Visiting my lovely grandma, of course."

Draco and Tali looked at the old woman, indeed Phelps resembled her.

"Адриан, о чем они говорят? (Adrian, what are they talking about?)" asked his grandma.

"Ничего (Nothing)," replied Phelps, smiling at the sweet old lady.

Draco could not believe that he came all the way to Ailama just to visit his grandma, it simply did not make sense. So Draco whispered to Tali,

"Does he really have a grandma?"

"I have never heard about that but then we cannot say he makes it all up."

"What's wrong?" asked Phelps, frowning. "Are you looking for something?"

Draco stared at him, then said,

"Nothing."

After bidding farewell to his grandmother, Phelps grinned and explained,

"Grandmother sent me a note and I had to go, she twisted her ankle and could not buy things down town, that's why I left all in a sudden."

Draco raised his brow, was it really that simple?

"Do you know that Tania is also missing?" said Tali quietly.

Phelps stopped and his eyes grew wide, then he yelled,

"What?"

"She disappeared, the same time as you did."

Phelps licked his lips with anxiety, after a long deep sigh, he said,

'So any clue to where she has gone?"

"No, unfortunately," replied Draco. "Our two assistants are finding her."

As they walked downhill, a little girl was jumping merrily towards them and squealed the moment she spotted them. She stopped in front of them and waved with a letter in hand, then said,

"თქვენთვის (For you)."

"ვისგან (From whom)?" asked Phelps.

The little girl shook her head and went off.

As Phelps opened the letter, he covered his mouth and gasped with terror. Draco snatched the letter and read.

 _Dear Mr. Malfoy,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that your lovely wife is in our hands._

"Hermione!"

"Hold on, could this be a false alarm, luring you to expose Hermione's whereabouts?" asked Tali.

Draco drew his wand, before he could do anything, Tali asked,

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm going back and check."

"Wait-"

Within a split second, he was in St. Mungo's and quickly he opened the ward door.

Hermione was missing.


	17. Chapter 16 Truth Be Told

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* * *

HG's POV

"Wakey, wakey my love."

Hermione's head was heavy like a rock, yet she managed to lift her head and open her eyes. She was tied to a chair, legs bound so tightly that she could not make a move. The room was so spacious and cold that her breath could echo and her breath became mist, dissolving in mid-air. As she tilted her head to the left, she saw a lady lying on the floor, curled, with her hands tied at the back. She frowned and squinted her eyes, trying to recognise who this lady was. But it was too dark for her to see clearly, she looked around and curtains were drawn, covering up all light source.

"Tali?"

The lady turned her head and Hermione was shocked. Why would Tali be here, tied and looked tortured?

"Uh-uh, look at me, my dear. You have to focus."

Hermione looked up and saw Phelps smirking, his devilish grin glowed in the dark, making Hermione shiver.

"Adrian, what are you doing here?"

Phelps darkly chuckled and began,

"My, my, where has that bright mind gone, Hermione? Have you lost your mind?"

"You lost your mind," snapped Hermione. "Untie me!"

"I don't remember taking orders from you is part of my duty, Mrs. Malfoy," replied Phelps.

While Hermione kept struggling, Phelps continued,

"I follow him to serve my turn upon him. We cannot all be masters, nor all masters cannot be truly followed. You remember this, don't you?"

"From Iago, Act I, Scene I, Othello."

"Good," said Phelps. "Then you must remember 'Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago. In following him, I follow but myself.'."

Hermione could not believe what she had just heard.

"No, you wouldn't. Queen Tania-"

"Tania!" exclaimed Phelps. "Such a luscious body, it's a pity that Nikoloz never likes it."

"I don't seem to understand what you mean," said Hermione, confused.

"Then don't bother understand," said a cold woman voice.

Hermione turned her head and she saw the door opened, lady in tight blood red evening gown came in, walking towards them. She was Tania.

"Tania! What are you doing here?"

"Is that not clear enough?" asked Tania coldly. "My, my, how blinded...And here we thought the brightest wtich had everything in her mind."

"You!" yelled Hermione. "And Adrian-"

"Mr. Phelps has been very helpful," said Tania. "Especially when you all are occupied by my...scheme."

She stood before Tali, who was still wriggling on the floor, and kicked her in the waist. Tali groaned in pain.

"And this strumpet here has been plotting against me with outsiders!" snapped Tania, knelt down and cupped her face.

Tali was shivering madly, Hermione wanted to help but the rope restrained her from all movements, everytime she wriggled, her skin could feel the rope slowly cutting deeper and deeper. Because of that, Hermione decided that it would be best to talk Tania out, despite knowing that she would be easily moved by her words.

"What did Tali ever do to you?"

Tania's grin faded and her fingers gnawled deeper to Tali's cheek.

"What did she do? Tali, you tell her what did you do to me?"

Tania kicked her again and began,

"I should have done this years ago, never have I imagined that you would be so audacious. So audacious that you dare to flirt with my husband!"

Hermione was shocked and said,

"What?"

"Oh?" said Tania, sounded amused. "You keep your little secret well, don't you Tali?"

Tali started wriggling away but Phelps kicked her back to Tania's feet. She knelt down and said,

"It's fortunate that we have never not alone."

"We?" asked Hermione, not understanding what she meant.

"Still haven't realised who make you fall for the plot?" asked Tania. "Think, Mrs. Malfoy, think. Sometimes your closest friend, your trusted companion is your greatest enemy."

Hermione closed her eyes, trying to comprehend her message. Her closest friend would be Draco, whom she knew he would never betray her. Harry and Ron were close, but they would never be the possible suspect, the whole Auror Office did not seem to have any connections with Tania. Who was she referring to?

"Bring them in," ordered Tania. "Apparently the brightest witch is not so bright after all."

Phelps nodded and left the room, soon he came back. As the door swung open, two people with their hands tied came in. With his kick, they knelt on the floor, shrieked. Hermione stared at the two shivering people on the floor, they did not raise their heads, as though they were scared of her.

"Your two little assistants have acted well, haven't they?"

Morgan and Turner did not look up, they stayed still, lowering their heads. Hermione had never imagined colleagues like them would be the traitors, they had always been helpful, always voicing out useful suggestions and never backing away, what part of them made them traitors?

"Cassy, Marcus," whispered Hermione, disappointed.

"No use crying over spilt milk, Mrs. Malfoy," snapped Tania and began her explanation. "These two henchmen of mine had always been under my control."

Hermione's mind was stung by the phrase "henchmen of mine". She tried to recall Morgan and Turner's behaviour, they had never been suspicious, except for the time when she and Draco apparated into their dark hotel room. Back then, she had not thought much and merely reckoned that they were trying to calm down, just as what they claimed.

"Why had you not question their behaviours?" asked Tania in her utmost superior tone. "Keeping your wands due to 'safety measures' and 'accidentally' twisted her ankle. And you still think they are all normal?"

Hermione did not answer.

"Of course, Adrian has always been successful in seducing young hopeless women like you, desperate for romance that partners could never give," continued Tania. "He tried to get you into believing that he was that Muggle boy in your childhood, and you never realise that. Then he lured you into that German castle, hoping you will be one step closer to our trap."

"What trap?" asked Hermione, frustrated.

"Don't you remember the mysterious voice?"

Hermione searched her mind, and the voice rang.

 _Heir of Georgia, as foretold,_

 _The time has already come._

 _Long have two eyes, one light and one dark,_

 _Equally powerful granted by one._

 _The eye will strike when time comes._

 _Beware, the heir of Georgia._

"I was brother of Nikoloz," said Phelps in a serious manner. "But I was born out of wedlock, I was the dark eye."

"Huh?"

"Apparently you neglected it, so we have to come up with another plan," added Tania. "And that's when we went to New York."

"Wait," said Hermione. "But Draco...Morgan and Turner told them?"

"We ordered them to do so," answered Tania. "And they, if you could still remember the night, were those two elderly on the floor, under disguise."

All the events started to link together, and Hermione felt stupid for not realising she was part of the plan.

"My dear Adrian, please get that for me."

Adrian nodded and he went out, then came back, with a crown in his hands. Tania's fingers reached it and rubbed against the gleaming surface.

"It won't surrender until the owner is overthrown," said Tania.

"You...Nikoloz..." gasped Hermione, alarmed. If Tania could plot against everyone in such a detailed way, the part of killing Nikoloz would also have been planned by now.

Tali was wriggling and screaming, but immediately Phelps drew his wand and with his wand aimed at her, he whispered,

"Silencio."

Despite of her great struggle, no sound was made. Tania grinned and the moment when she drew her wand, she yelled,

"Crucio!"

Tali twisted and turned on the floor and Hermione could not bear the sight. Then Tania said,

"Take her out, I do not want our child to witness violence."

Immediately, Tali was dragged away and followed by the slam of the door. Hermione was too overwhelmed, so much information just flashed before her eyes and she could hardly organise them all, making her unable to interpret Tania's words.

"Our?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, our," replied Tania. As Phelps came back, he was welcomed by Tania's embrace and her kiss on the lips. Hermione took a deep breath and said,

"You and Phelps..."

"Yes, the child is ours."

"But Nikoloz-" began Hermione but Phelps quickly interrupted.

"The crown can only be placed on one person, and that person is me."


	18. Chapter 17 Down the Basement

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 **This is going to be a very long chapter...**

 **There are two puzzles in this chapter so you might want to do it.**

* * *

DM's POV

The moment when he dashed into the Auror Office, Melanie shrieked and documents flew out of their hands, scattered across the floor.

"Mr. Malfoy! You're back!" exclaimed Melanie. "Where's Her-"

"Is Potter and Weasley here?"

Melanie nodded and Draco immediately burst into Potter's Office. Potter stood up, shocked by his sudden arrival.

"Draco-"

"Hermione has been kidnapped," said Draco.

Weasley widened his eyes and gawked, then Potter said,

"Is that genuine?"

"Confirmed, I even received a note."

As Draco passed the notes to Potter and Weasley, Potter asked,

"How so?"

"She's not in the ward, and you wife was in the ward at the moment of disappearance," stated Draco. "And here I thought she was a trustworthy person."

Weasley licked his lips and argued,

"Ginny said she passed out due to exhaustion and she thought you took her a walk around the garden."

"Do you think I would do such a thing when she has a miscarriage?"

"Hey, would you two just shut up!" yelled Potter. "Hermione's missing and you two are arguing over something that's not even important at this stage!"

Draco took a deep breath and began,

"I request a team to assist my rescue."

Potter nodded, but Weasley suddenly pointed out,

"Wait a minute, wasn't Tali with you? I heard Ginny said that Morgan and Turner were with you too, discussing about Phelp's disappearance."

Weasley's sudden sharp mind shocked Draco, then he said,

"I left her at the mountain."

"You what?" yelled Weasley. "How can you leave our client alone!"

"I was worried!" shouted Draco, agitated. "Hermione's my wife and she has a miscarriage! She hasn't yet recovered!"

"So did you contact her before coming?"

"I couldn't contact her!"

Weasley's face had gone crimson with fury and he could no longer hold his temper.

"You're going to get us into trouble! Who's going to write a report then!"

'We're talking about lives when you're talking about stupid reports!"

Potter patted their shoulders, signalling them to control his temper.

"Calm down, we need to clear the path ahead. My understanding is Hermione was with Ginny at the ward, so were Draco, Morgan and Turner. Then Tali came and told you about Phelp-"

"Tania was missing too," added Draco.

"-and Tania's disappearance," continued Potter. "Then you four went to find them-"

"Morgan and Turner went to find Tania whereas Tali and I went to find Hermione."

"Would you let Harry finish his sentence?" snapped Weasley.

Before Draco could punch him, Harry cleared his throat and said

"It's okay. So Morgan and Turner went to find Tania whereas Tali and I went to find Hermione. After that, you received a note saying that Hermione's gone and you went back to check if she's still in the ward but obviously not, and you left Tali up on the mountain. Is that correct?"

"That's more or less what's going on," mumbled Draco.

"Did you receive any news from Morgan and Turner?"

"No," answered Draco, wondering what had happened to them. "Best hope they are alive and still searching."

Potter ruffled his hair, then said,

"We'd better hurry."

A knock rang at the door and Melanie came in, shocked and pale.

"There's a lady at the lounge, feeble and injured," reported Melanie.

Alarmed, Draco clutched her shoulders and said,

"Is it Tali?"

"I don't know, Mr. Malfoy," replied Draco.

"Draco, relax," said Potter and took his hands off the young lady's shoulders. "Let's go."

The moment they walked out of the office, a figure thudded on the floor and Draco hurried towards it. The figure was a young woman with messy hair and dirty clothes, as though she had been through hard times. Bruises were on her limbs and dried blood stains lingered on her skin.

"Mr. Malfoy..." she whispered.

"Tali?" asked Draco, recognising her voice and shocked to see her mauled.

"Mrs. Malfoy is kidnapped-"

"Yes, we know," replied Draco. "Where is she?"

"She's in our castle, I'll lead you-"

"No! You need rest," said Draco. "Trust me, we can handle it."

"No, you don't understand," said Tali. "She put on spells and a sphinx to guard the room."

"She?"

"Tania," answered Tali. "She's planning to bomb Parliament Building."

"Why?"

"Nikoloz is going to make a speech there," explained Tali, then clutched Draco's arms. "Please save him, please!"

"Calm down, Tali," said Potter. "We need to get you to St. Mun-"

Draco raised his hand and stopped his speech. He drew his wand and aimed at her bruises, murmuring. Then with a flick, a flask of purple liquid appeared and he said,

"Drink it."

Tali received the flask and gobbled down the potion without hesitation. The bruises on her slowly faded and she recovered energy.

"That should do," said Draco. "All wounds would be slowly healed in the next eighteen hours," explained Draco. "When is he going to make the speech?"

"Tomorrow morning at nine sharp," said Tali. "We need to save Nikoloz, please-"

"Relax, Tali," said Potter. "We will."

"Tali, we will take you with us, but you will wait for us somewhere safe, is that clear?"

Tali nodded and she fell on her knees, then kowtowed,

"Thank you."

"Now, we need to contact Cassandra and Marcus," mumbled Weasley.

"It's no use," said Tali. "They are Tania's.

"Tania?" exclaimed Draco, shocked. "And here I thought Phelps was the culprit."

"He's the paramour."

"What?" gasped the three men.

Tali took quite a while to explain what she had just witnessed, and Draco could not help getting furious the moment when he heard Hermione being tied to a chair and jeered at. When she finished, Tali said,

"We need to warn Nikoloz."

"No," said Potter. "There is a possibility that Phelps and Tania would be alerted the moment when we reach him."

Draco glanced at the clock. Half past three in the afternoon, seventeen and half an hour until the speech. Things had become more and more complicated. Never had he imagined Tania could plot against her own husband. After hearing Tali's story, he sort of understood Tania's feeling, but then he felt it was not an excuse for murdering Nikoloz. He felt fortunate that Hermione had grown to like him and vice versa.

"We'll take the Portkey to the castle and see if we can rescue Hermione first," suggested Draco.

"I will go to the Portkey Office now," said Potter and immediately he left.

Weasley looked at Tali, wondering that made her so injured. Tali seemed to understand his doubts and explained,

"Cruciatus curse, a few hexes and jinxes, and countless kicking."

"Geez, Phelps did that to you?" said Weasley, disgusted by the idea.

"I consider myself fortunate enough that I am still sane."

Draco bit his lips, then conjured another bottle and quickly stuffed it into his pocket. Potter came back, sprinting, with a large invisibility cloak in his hand.

"The Portkey is ready, let's go."

The moment they darted into Portkey Office, it shocked the old lady and she shrieked,

"Can you not run?"

"Sorry, Mrs. Patterson," said Weasley curtly and immediately they headed to the old leathered shoe on the floor. The moment their fingers reached it, wind swirled around them and they landed on a random floor in the castle.

"Where are we exactly?"

Tali looked around and said,

"Fourth floor. They are in the a room that can only be accessed through the basement."

"Well then, we shall just apparate-"

Tali put her index finger on her lips and quickly, a few footsteps followed behind, then voices rang. Draco wished he had learnt Georgian. After they left, Tali began,

"The basement and the room is magic-blocked so we have to use the Muggle way to get in there."

"What were they talking about?"

"They mentioned something about cries echoing at the ground floor, the corridor that leads to the kitchen."

"That must be Hermione," mumbled Weasley.

"Anyway, we have to go down there without alerting anyone or the alarm system," said Tali. "I could not go down there under the cameras."

"Cameras?" asked Weasley. "Nobody's going to take pictures of you-"

"Not that kind of camera," said Draco, before Weasley could finish his sentence. "We need to take down the cameras."

"I have an idea," said Tali and nudged them to the lavatory.

"What are you doing? We are men!"

Tali went out of the cloak and altered her appearance into Tania's.

"Now, we will just find _him_."

"Him?" asked Weasley.

Tali opened the door and the boys followed them to a mahogany door. After three knocks, an old man came out and respectfully gave a deep bow. Tali's tone was cold as stone and if Draco had not witnessed Tali changing her appearance, he would have believed that standing before him was Tania. The old man nodded and as he turned back into the room, he clicked the button on the pad before numerous screens showing different places of the castle. Then, all screen blacked out. Draco immediately understood. After the old man closed the door, Tali let out a deep breath, Draco noticed glistening sweats covered her forehead and her body was shaking.

"You alright?" asked Draco as he took off the cloak.

"I was just...never mind, let's go," answered Tali.

They hurried downstairs and turned left towards the kitchen. Sneaking past a few guards and servants, they arrived at a large door that was twice their height.

"This leads to the basement?" asked Weasley.

"We have two basement," explained Tali. "This portal cannot be accessed by Muggles since they cannot see the door."

Potter reached for the door knob but Tali immediately hit his hand.

"Don't touch the door knob, they are hexed."

Tali drew out her wand and muttered a phrase. The door knob rattled and the door swung open. In front of them was a long dark stairs leading to pitch black darkness. They walked down, going deeper and deeper, so deep that Draco could barely see anything. The moment when the saw a glimpse of light ahead, they ran and ran, and light blinded their sight...

The basement was a lot different from what Draco had expected, at least it was different from the Manor's basement. It was a bright corridor made of gold.

"Wow, that's really grand," commented Weasley.

"This way," said Tali. "But it's going to be a problem."

"Why?"

"Riddles."

Tali pointed ahead and Draco saw a sphinx resting by the door. It stood up as they approached with caution.

"The riddle, please," said Tali.

The sphinx began,

"Once a family of six. got lost in the forest. As they reached the river bank, they saw a boat, an Auror and a handcuffed criminal. The boat could lead them to the other side of the river yet the boat could only hold two people at the same time and only adults could control the boat. The family has two daughters and two sons. The father would beat his daughters if the mother was not around and the mother would beat her sons if the father was not around. Please explain how could the family cross the river."

"Damn, how could I forgot Tania was a Ravenclaw!" exclaimed Draco.

"Blimey, how am I going to solve it!" mumbled Weasley, scratching his head.

"Definitely it is going to take a whole day for me to solve it," said Potter, frustrated.

"Damn it!" yelled Weasley, devastated. "Could they not just apparate?"

"I think this logic puzzle is a lot better than words puzzles," said Potter grimly.

After an hour of trial and error, Draco finally came up with the solution.

"First, the Auror and criminal. Then, the Auror comes back and takes one of the daughters, and comes back with the criminal. After that, the mother and the other daughter reached the other side, the mother comes back and sets off with the father. The father comes back, the Auror and the criminal go to the other side. Then, the mother comes back and sets off with the father, the father comes back and takes one of his sons. And finally, the Auror and criminal comes back, the Auror takes the other son, comes back and take the criminal!"

"What did you just say?" asked Weasley, gawked and dazed with confusion.

Draco turned to the sphinx, who was smiling.

"Not nicely phrased but correct logic," commented the sphinx and she moved aside, allowing them to get through the door.

"If you hadn't been sorted into Slytherin, you would have been in Ravenclaw," said Potter.

"I will take this compliment," said Draco.

The door led to two different paths, and Weasley exclaimed,

"Two separate paths again!"

Noise echoed through the right path.

"Let us go, you bastard!"

"That was Cassandra's voice," whispered Tali darkly. "Perhaps that's a trap set by Tania."

Potter ignored her words and walked to the right path, Weasley quickly clutched his arm and said,

"You're going to fall for the trap!"

Potter did not listen and continued walking further into the path. The rest had no choice but to follow, then they saw four people behind the metal bars, two of them were elderly and the other two were Morgan and Turner.

"You two!" yelled Weasley. "You two betrayed us!"

The old lady at the corner of the cell coughed so badly that Draco could tell she could hardly breath.

"Granny!" said Morgan, immediately went to her and patted her back.

"Your grandma?" said Weasley.

Turner sighed and explained,

"They kidnapped her grandma and my grandpa, using them to threaten us. We had no choice..."

Draco felt a bit apologetic, still he said with anger,

"But that does not mean you can hurt Hermione!"

"So why are you here and not by Tania's side?" asked Potter.

"We were useless chess pieces now," said Morgan gloomily.

"You're going to Azkaban for sure," said Weasley, wearing a triumphant grin. "Serves you right!"

"We can tell you everything, in exchange for freedom," said Turner.

Morgan dashed to the bars and said,

"We have always expected imprisonment the moment we stepped into this quicksand. But at least, pity our parent and grandparent."

"Deal, how to get you out then?" asked Draco.

"The puzzle on the ceiling," said Morgan, with her finger pointing upwards.

Draco looked up, a puzzle was written on the ceiling.

 _There are five houses. Each of the five houses is painted a different color, and their inhabitants are of different national extractions, own different pets, drink different beverages and smoke different brands of American cigarettes_

 _The Englishman lives in the red house._

 _The Spaniard owns the dog._

 _Coffee is drunk in the green house._

 _The Ukrainian drinks tea._

 _The green house is immediately to the right of the ivory house._

 _The Old Gold smoker owns snails._

 _Kools are smoked in the yellow house._

 _Milk is drunk in the middle house._

 _The Norwegian lives in the first house._

 _The man who smokes Chesterfields lives in the house next to the man with the fox._

 _Kools are smoked in the house next to the house where the horse is kept._

 _The Lucky Strike smoker drinks orange juice._

 _The Japanese smokes Parliaments._

 _The Norwegian lives next to the blue house._

 _Now, who drinks water? Who owns the zebra?_

Draco wished Hermione was here to help, she could solve any puzzle within five minutes. Potter was not clever yet better than Weasley. Tali was witty but not quick enough to solve such puzzles. With no quills and papers, he could hardly do anything. He took a glance at Potter's watch, it was seven in the evening already. There was not much time left to save both Hermione and Nikoloz. He clutched the bottle in his pocket, probably this would save him a lot of time...

* * *

 **So who drinks water and who owns the zebra? ;)**


	19. Chapter 18 Escaped

**Since no one seems to be interested in voting, I have decided to publish the first chapters of the two stories and see which one is more popular for the next update of this story (Traffic, Reviews, Favourite, Follow are the determinants).**

* * *

HG's POV

Hermione woke up from a deep sleep and saw a television in front of her, live broadcasting a grand meeting room. She could not recognise where this room was located but she could make a fair guess.

"You are awake at the right time, Mrs. Malfoy," said Tania from behind.

Hermione had long given up struggling. Each time she wiggled, the rope tightened, as though warning her not to make further movement.

"It's so nice to have you with us, witnessing the best news of the year," continued Tania.

"News?" asked Hermione, hoping that she would slip the details and she could use them to escape.

"You know what I mean," replied Tania. "At half past nine, we will witness his fall and we shall rise."

As she finished her words, her hand patted her abdomen and she hummed a sweet short lullaby. It confused Hermione much, while Tania kidnapped and tortured her, her gentle side was contradicting to her previous behaviours.

"Once I click the button, and he'll be history," murmured Tania to herself, amused by her own plan.

She wished she could tell Draco all these. Phelps took Tali out of the room and did not return. Tali's situation was unknown and she wished it would not be the worst she could imagine. Morgan and Turner were also taken away, and Hermione wished they were not going to be involved in the bomb.

Her wand was lying there by the windowsill, not far from her. If she could wiggle and shift the chair to the window, she could escape in no time, though she was perfectly sure Tania had spell-blocked the area and one must go through triathlon to get out of this place.

She waited, and waited, finally it was nine o'clock, people soon filled up the seats in the parliament and the camera panned to Nikoloz, witnessing him ascended to the stage, standing below the chairman's seat. He tidied his papers and was prepared to deliver his speech. There was Russian simultaneous interpretation but Tania did not tune to it, as though she did not want Hermione to understand the situation. But then she picked up a few Georgian words, she could make a fair guess that Nikoloz is talking about education.

Tania then took out a small bottle from her pocket. Hermione could immediately recognise on the swirling golden liquid-Felix Felicis. Felix Felicis had always been hard to brew, thrice the effort and skills to brew it, and also, luck was required during the brew. Only one success out of fifty brews. Usually those unsuccessful Felix Felicis could grant five minutes of fortune, yet again the fortune was not guaranteed, the effect could be extremely unstable and this was why Aurors never used the potion while they were catching dark wizards.

Without hesitation, Tania gobbled down the liquid, then she said,

"Ten more minutes until the show be-"

Suddenly, Tania's phone rang. She uttered a groan of disgust and answered the call.

"დიახ (Yes)?"

After a while, her face turned more and more serious, with a slight hint of anger. Then she shouted a large speech in Georgian, then stormed out of the room, slamming the door as hard as she could.

Hearing her steps fading, Hermione could finally stop holding her breath. She glanced at the television, two minutes had passed, time was running out. She took a glance at the windowsill, the wand was lying there, waiting for, yearning for her grasp. Quickly, she shifted her chair and managed to have the chair right beside the window. Squeezing her arms through the tight ropes, her finger grabbed the wand and she whispered,

"Incendio."

A jet of flame shot out from the tip of her wand and she could feel her hand getting warmer and warmer. The rope snapped and crackled, finally it broke and her arms were free. Immediately, she cast the spell on the rope that tied her legs. The sensation of stretching her limbs was amazing and she could not help letting a moan of relief. Soon, the door knob rattled, and Hermione immediately sat down the moment she moved her chair back to its original place, pretending that she was still tied. Tania obviously did not notice that, she walked past Hermione and took out a remote control from her pocket, then laughed.

"Goodbye, husband. Let the show begin."

She clicked the button before Hermione could get up from her chair. An awkward moment of silence followed, nothing happened. Nikoloz was still delivering his speech in front of parliament members, unharmed. Tania was shocked and she repeatedly clicked the button, still nothing happened.

"What-"

Before she could say anything, Hermione got up and with her wand, she aimed at her and yelled,

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Tania froze and dazed at Hermione with horror, the remote control dropped onto the floor and broke into pieces. Ignoring her, Hermione quickly opened the door and left the room.

But then the problem came, three corridors stood in front of her, she had no idea which one could lead her to the exit, trials and error would take up too much time and either she ended up in traps or the spell on Tania wore off. She tried apparation, but without avail. Then she tried another few spells, still without success. The place was magic-blocked and she did not know what to do.

"Draco, where are you?" she whispered, hoping that Draco could appear from the corner and save her from anxiety.

Then, a small voice in her heart instructed her to take the corridor on the left. Believing in her intuition, she ran to the corridor and stopped in front of a large door. Alphabets were written on the door, as if this was the key to opening the door. A quill was levitating beside her.

 _MXRR CYK RKGKV DKYQHW CYK LCOCXK_

Hermione was sure this was no English, nor French or Russian. It did not seem to be Georgian either. After a short while, she finally discovered that this was a cryptogram puzzle. Normally she enjoyed challenges like these but this was not the time to do such things. She needed to find Draco.

 _Better start early and finish early_ , she told herself.

The trial and error seemed forever, she first substituted "THE" to "CYK", then she read,

"Something the something-e-something-e-something-eh-something the something-t-something-t-something-e."

She come up with two possible words in her mind for the third word, "level" and "lever". Since the last letter was not the same as the first one. She fitted in "lever".

 __ _ LL THE LEVER _EH_ _ _ THE _T_T_ E_

It did not help much, but then it gave her enough spark. The first word had to be a verb and the action must be able to be completed with the lever. So her mind search again for the four-lettered word with "ll" as the end. Then, she put down "pull".

 _PULL THE LEVER _EH_ _ _ THE _T_TUE._

The answer was clearer and clearer. The only word that could fit in the last word was "statue".

 _PULL THE LEVER _EH_ _ _ THE STATUE._

The answer was almost straight forward, then she wrote on the door.

 _PULL THE LEVER BEHIND THE STATUE._

The phrase gleamed and Hermione heard noises rang from behind. Behind her was a large statue, she walked to its back and discovered the lever. She pulled the lever as hard as she could. The door rattled and it swung open. Hermione quickly went out and she realised she was in a corridor of the castle. A few servants passed by and eyed on her with curiosity. Soon as they disappeared, Hermione flicked her wand and apparated to the parliament.

The moment she walked pass the entrance of the parliament, a loud pang exploded and people screamed, passing by her and scurrying towards the exit. Nikoloz followed the crowd and Hermione grabbed him, asking,

"Where's Draco?"

"I don't know, I didn't see him," he replied.

"Nikoloz!" yelled a familiar voice.

Tali dashed to Nikoloz's chest and they kissed. Hermione bit her lips and she went further, checking each and every room.

"Draco! Are you here?" she screamed, getting more and more desperate as she cleared the floors. She felt her world falling apart when she went up the stairs and searched each and every corner.

"Hermione!"

Draco was standing at the far end of the corridor, smiling at her. As he sprinted towards her, the corridor exploded and in front of her was haze.

"Draco!" she screamed and she went into the haze, only discovering a hole on the floor. Draco was nowhere to be seen.

 _It couldn't be!_

She bent down and shouted Draco's name, hoping that he was fine, but nobody answered. Tears dripped on the floor and she covered her face, weeping. Then, she could feel a tap on the shoulder. She dried her tears and looked up.

Draco.

She stood up and touched his cheek and stroke- Manage Storiesd them. Confirming that it was reality and not illusion, she threw herself to him, pressing her lips onto his, sucking upon his lips. Soon, Draco responded, his arms wrapped around her waist and his kiss was passionate. As they broke their kiss, Draco whispered to her ear,

"Let's go."

* * *

 **I know I did not do well enough on this chapter...**


	20. Chapter 19 Epilouge

**Inappropriate content alert! (Wait, I thought I classified the fanfiction as M, why do I still need to write this?)**

* * *

DM's POV

"I hereby declare that the matrimony between me and Ms. Tania has come to an end. Me and Ms. Tali Lionidze will be our next queen of Georgia..."

Hearing this, Draco could not help smiling. For the past two years, both him and Hermione had been working hard on his case, the moment when Potter announced that the case could be closed, he immediately applied for a month's leave. Hermione firstly insisted working but then she gave in and with Draco's kisses, she was forced to go in Potter's office and notified him of her vacation. And when she left the office, Draco could hear Ron groaning and complaining of their irresponsible behaviour, which made Draco sniggered. He had never seen Ron working, it was about time for him to _do_ something. Morgan and Turner felt guilty of their behaviours and wanted to resign but Potter decided that they should stay. After all, he was _Saint Potter_.

"By the way, you still have not told me what happened while I was captured?" said Hermione, lying on the bed with Draco as they watched the news. It was a relief that the speech was interpreted into English so that Draco did not have to ask her to translate every single sentence. He did not know that Hermione was an amateur in Georgian.

"If you want something, you must give away something to get it," said Draco, grinning and winked at her.

Hermione licked her lips and placed a kiss on Draco's cheek. He softly smiled and locked her tighter.

"You want a summary or a full description?" asked Draco.

"You know what I want!" exclaimed Hermione.

"And you know what I want too," said Draco, smirking.

Hermione kissed him on the cheek again, then Draco began,

"Tali came to us the moment she escaped, then we went to the castle and noticed that Morgan and Turner were locked up with their grandparents."

"Why?"

"Both of them worked for Tania because she took their grandparents hostages."

"Huh? Why didn't they tell us? Then we would not have to go through so many things!"

"We tried to save them and it took us a lot of time to solve the puzzles."

"What puzzles?" asked Hermione, interested.

"One of them is about crossing the river, the either one is 'who drinks water and who has the zebra'," answered Draco. "The first one was easy but then other one is super hard, but we cannot conjure parchments and quills, I wished you were there-"

"The Zebra Puzzle!" exclaimed Hermione. "Norwegian drinks water and Japanese owns the zebra! I have played that before."

"We could have solved it with parchments and quills in no time but then we cannot use magic there, we have to use our memory and logic. What's more, we were racing against time, which makes everyone nervous."

"How long did it take?"

"Hours," replied Draco. "Then we realised it was morning and we had to prioritise."

"And you saved the day!"

Draco grinned and kissed her forehead.

"There's something that bothered me," began Hermione. "Tania drank Felix Felicis, but luck didn't fall upon her-"

"Still remember Phelps?"

"Yes?"

"Tali said 'Women who fail for him were consistently second-rate. They were unhappy of their marriage and he was regarded as their saviour'."

"He betrayed Tania!"

"The Ministry of Georgia found the Felix Felicis bottle and the report mentioned that it was nothing but syrup."

"Do you how scared I was when the explosion occurred?" said Hermione as she snuggled. "I thought I would lose you."

"Apparently you did not, and I am still here, fit as a fiddle."

"Wait, what about the bomb? I thought it was at in the room!"

"Apparently Tania had planted several bombs at different locations yet Phelps removed the wires, he missed the bomb we saw."

"I don't really know if I should like him or not."

An idea pricked his heart and he said,

"I remembered someone fancying him at the party and even defending him."

Hermione realised what he wanted to say and she began,

"But in the end, I didn't-"

"You chose him over your husband!"

"That's because you're a prat!"

"Oh yeah?" said Draco, tickling Hermione. "Am I a prat, huh?"

Hermione wriggled, twisted and turned, finally his arms pinned hers and she stopped moving. Hermione asked,

"So case closed, what are we going to do for the rest of the vacation?"

Draco's smirk grew wider.

"What do you think we should do?" he asked, grinning broader.

Hermione avoided his eye contact and rolled her head, then said,

"I thought you never use Felix Felicis."

"I won't deny that I drank a little when I was at the Parliament."

"You!"

"Come now, didn't you say 'case closed'? We have something more important to do," he said and whispered into her ear. "Babies."

Hermione blushed and said,

"My period ended two weeks ago and you know it won't come until five weeks later! You were late, Mr. Malfoy."

"Well that means I have to work harder."

Hermione laughed and said,

"Do you need Felix Felicis?"

Draco was angered by her giggle and scorn, his arms pinned her tighter and yelled,

"Do you think I need Felix Felicis for that? Do I look like I need potion to get my wife pregnant!"

Hermione giggled and Draco pressed his lips to stop her laughing. It came quick and demanding that when Hermione gasped for air, he took the opportunity to slide in his tongue, licking around and teasing her tongue like a playful little boy. He knew it was the perfect moment to unbutton her pyjamas and pull down her underwear. Before she could react, he had already shoved their clothes aside and his hands cupped breasts as her arms wrapped his neck. He could feel her enjoying a lot and so did he. Slowly, his lips left hers and went for the neck. She giggled and wiggled so much that he had to place his weight onto hers so as to stop her wiggling.

"Don't move," he whispered into her ear, nibbling her earlobe and then kissing the back of her ears.

Hermione nodded and Draco continued kissing her neck, he could feel himself slowly losing control and he immediately pushed himself inside her, how long it had been since the last time he was on the same bed with her, so intimate and indulging themselves in pleasure. Hermione quivered and Draco comforted her with sweet tender kisses. He knew he had to wait, wait until she was prepared. He kept on kissing her, cocooning her as much as possible.

"Draco?" she whispered.

Draco stopped his kiss and gazed at her, her fingers ran through his hair and before he could react, Hermione's face went closer and kissed him, licking his lower lip, then slid in his mouth and teasing him just like what he had done earlier. Draco smirked, _she's ready_. He pushed in harder, picking up a rhythmic pace. He muffled her moan by kissing her deeper and deeper, teasing her back. Her hips started shifting against him and this prompted Draco to move even faster.

The ultimate release was so soothing that Draco could not help groaning in pleasure. He collapsed onto her, panting. He could feel Hermione's heartbeat pumping vigorously against his chest. As he recovered his breath, he kissed her neck, then her cheek, and nibbled her nose tip.

"How was I?" he asked, grinning and cupping her chin.

"You are the best," whispered Hermione and give him a soft kiss on the cheek.

* * *

 **Thank you all for following Odi Et Amo (especially the 14 favourites and 44 followers). It has been fun writing each and every chapters and nothing is happier than to receive positive reviews (favourite and follow also make me happy but the happiness is doubled for nice reviews.) To be honest, my original ending was not like this, it was supposed to be a lot more fun but then...that happened.**

 **I know the title does not seem to match the plot, but what I originally want to point out is that, one can both love and hate the characters. When you like Draco and whoever that is in the story, at the same time you can hate them for some reason, and that's the grey area of humanity. (I failed to show that clear enough...)**

 **The first chapter of the two stories are published, one is "Indigo" (Lumione), the other is "Within the Walled Alley" (DracoXHermioneXHarry). Reviews, Favourite and Follow are always welcomed (Reviews are the best but then...looks like my works are never going to attract any enthusiastic readers.)**

 **And if you are reading this on 10 Sept (CST 12:00 noon), I am on the plane, probably sleeping.**


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